George Ayliffe Poole (1809–1883) was an English Anglican cleric and a writer on religion, church architecture and history. He strongly advocated the

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 ...

Life

Poole was a scholar of

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, who graduated B.A. in 1831 and proceeded M.A. in 1838. He took holy orders in 1832, and was

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

successively of Twickenham, of the Church of St John the Evangelist, Edinburgh, and of

St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury St Chad's Church occupies a prominent position in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire. The current church building was built in 1792, and with its distinctive round shape and high tower it is a well-known landmark in the town. It faces Th ...

. On 16 March 1839 he was appointed perpetual curate of St James's, Leeds. In 1843 Poole was presented to the

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically own ...

of Welford, Northamptonshire. which he held until, in 1876, he was presented by

William Connor Magee William Connor Magee (17 December 1821 – 5 May 1891) was an Irish clergyman of the Anglican church, Bishop of Peterborough 1868–1891 and Archbishop of York for a short period in 1891. Life He was born in Cork, Ireland. His father was a ...

, Bishop of Peterborough, to the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

of Winwick in the same county. He acted for some years as rural dean of the district. Poole was a strong high churchman. He died at Winwick on 25 September 1883, having married a daughter of Jonathan Wilks of St Ann's, Burley.

Works

Poole, with John Henry Parker and Matthew Holbeche Bloxam, was a leading advocate of the Gothic Revival. His works, with sermons and tracts, were these: Skirlaugh Chapel Bevan

*''The Exile's Return; or a Cat's Journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh'', a tale for children, Edinburgh, 1837 *''The Testimony of St. Cyprian against Rome'', London, 1838 *''The Anglo-Catholic Use of Two Lights upon the Altar, for the signification that Christ is the very true Light of the World, stated and defended'', London, 1840 *''The Life and Times of St. Cyprian'', Oxford, 1840 *''On the present State of Parties in the Church of England, with especial reference to the alleged tendencies of the Oxford School to the Doctrines and Communion of Rome'', London, 1841 *''The Appropriate Character of Church Architecture'', Leeds, 1842; reissued in 1845 as ‘Churches: their Structure, Arrangement, and Decoration,’ London *''Churches of Yorkshire'', described and edited (with others), 1842 *''A History of the Church in America'' (part of vol. ii. of ''The Christian's Miscellany''), Leeds, 1842 *''A History of England, from the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Queen Victoria'', London, 1844–1845, 2 vols *''The Churches of Scarborough, Filey, and the Neighbourhood'', London, 1848 (with

John West Hugall John West Hugall ( – 30 October 1880) was an English Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architect from Yorkshire. Career Hugall's works span the period 1848–78.Brodie, 2001, page 970 He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute ...

) *''A History of Ecclesiastical Architecture in England'', London, 1848 *''Sir Raoul de Broc and his Son Tristram'', a tale of the twelfth century, London, 1849 *''An historical and descriptive Guide to York Cathedral'' (with Hugall), York, 1850 *''Architectural, historical, and picturesque Illustrations of the Chapel of St. Augustine, Skirlaugh, Yorkshire'' (edited by Poole), Hull, 1855 *''Diocesan History of Peterborough'', London

Notes

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, George Ayliffe 1809 births 1883 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English architecture writers Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge People from Welford, Northamptonshire