Henry Edmund Goodridge (1797,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

– 26 October 1864) was an English architect based in Bath. He worked from the early 1820s until the 1850s, using Classical, Italianate and Gothic styles.

Life

He was born in Bath in 1797 the son of James Goodridge, who was at that time was engaged in large speculative building projects in connection with the management of the estate of Sir William Pulteney, at Bathwick. On the advice of

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...

, his father had him articled to

John Lowder John Lowder was an architect and surveyor working in Bath, Somerset, England. He was the Bath City Surveyor for a short time. In Bath, he designed the Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Milli ...

, then the City Architect for Bath. Having set up his own practice, his early work consisted mostly of alterations, laying out blocks for building, and designing villas. He converted the

Old Orchard Street Theatre The Old Orchard Street Theatre in Bath, Somerset, England was built as a provincial theatre before becoming a Roman Catholic Church and since 1865 has been a Masonic Hall. It is a Grade II listed building. Theatre In 1705 the first theatre open ...

into a Catholic church. His first important work was the enlargement of the Roman Catholic Downside College, (1821-3) near Bath, parts of which were praised by

Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. His work there included the vaulted Gothic chapel, which was originally heavily

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

d. In 1824 he built Christ Church at Rode Hill, also in Gothic style, and the next year he acted both as developer and architect on the "

Corridor Corridor or The Corridor may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Corridor'' (1968 film), a 1968 Swedish drama film * ''The Corridor'' (1995 film), a 1995 Lithuanian drama film * ''The Corridor'' (2010 film), a 2010 Canadia ...

" in Bath. In 1827 he finished the

Cleveland Bridge Cleveland Bridge over the River Avon is a grade II* listed building located in the World Heritage Site of Bath, England. It is notable for the unusual lodges that adorn each corner in a style that could be likened to miniature Greek temples. ...

over the Avon in Bath, a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

structure, with

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

lodges. He later built the Public Dispensary nearby, using the

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

.Little 1947, p.121 In 1829 he visited Italy, where he sketched buildings assiduously. In 1834 he made a grand design for a church in connection with the Roman Catholic College at

Prior Park Prior Park is a Neo-Palladian house that was designed by John Wood, the Elder, and built in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was bu ...

. It was never carried out, and a chapel on a smaller scale was later built by J.J. Scoles. Goodridge did, however, build the processional stairway in front of the mansion, and also made some internal alterations which were obliterated by fire in 1836. He designed the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

at Lansdown for William Beckford, who had recently sold

Fonthill Abbey Fonthill Abbey—also known as Beckford's Folly—was a large Gothic Revival country house built between 1796 and 1813 at Fonthill Gifford in Wiltshire, England, at the direction of William Thomas Beckford and architect James Wyatt. It was b ...

, and moved to a house in Lansdown Crescent in Bath. Beckford obtained designs from several London and Bath architects, including Goodridge, who was chosen after some prevarication. New designs were drawn up, and the tower completed up to the level of the block cornice in 28 working days. It was intended to be roofed at this point, but Beckford decided it should be increased in height with a

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

, and then decided on an additional lantern. According to a brief biography of Goodridge, written by his son:

In style he towermay be termed Greco-Italian, a style Goodridge greatly adopted, as he considered therein the purity of the Greek and the freedom of the Romanesque were best combined.

After Beckford's death, the tower and grounds became a cemetery, for which Goodridge designed a gateway and wing walls in a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style. At around this time he was employed by Beckford's son-in-law the

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the Sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...

Hamilton Palace Hamilton Palace was a country house in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it dated from the 14th century and was subsequently much enlarged in the 17th and 19th centuries.Houses of Parliament, and was appointed to the committee to choose designs for the decoration of Parliament when an exhibition was held for the purpose at Westminster Hall. During the construction of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

through Bath, his services were secured by

Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

to purchase the land and settle the various claims. During part of his career he did a great deal of this kind of work. His last works before his retirement were the alteration and enlargement of Ecclesgreig, Kincardineshire, for Forsyth Grant, and the Percy Chapel, Bath, (1854), another Byzantine design, on which he worked with his son, A. S. Goodridge. Harvey Lonsdale Elmes and W.H. Campbell were his pupils.

Personal life

Goodridge maintained a financial interest in The Corridor and, a few years after the death of his widow, his will led to a family dispute which had to be resolved by the

Chancery Court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

. He was buried in Lansdown Cemetery, which surrounds

Beckford's Tower Beckford's Tower, originally known as Lansdown Tower, is an architectural folly built in Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical style on Lansdown Hill, just outside Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, England. The tower and its attached railings ...

Works

Goodridge's buildings in Bath include: * The Corridor, one of the earliest shopping arcades (1824). *

(1827). *

Combe Down Combe Down is a village on the outskirts of Bath, England in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset. Combe Down village consists predominantly of 18th and 19th century Bath stone-built villas ...

church (1832–5) *

, commissioned by the eccentric William Beckford and now owned by the

Bath Preservation Trust The Bath Preservation Trust is a charity that is based in Bath, Somerset, England, which exists to safeguard for the public benefit the historic character and amenities of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its environs. The trust is i ...

and operated as a museum. * The Byzantine gateway to the cemetery adjacent to Beckford's Tower in which William Beckford's sarcophagus stands. * Several Italianate villas on

Bathwick Hill Bathwick Hill in Bath, Somerset, England is a street lined with historic houses, many of which are designated as listed buildings. It climbs south east from the A36 road, A36 towards the University of Bath on Claverton Down, providing views over ...

including his own house, Bathwick Grange, which was formerly known as Montebello. * Work at

, including the processional stairway. His designs outside Bath include: *The chapel of Downside Abbey (1828). *Roman Catholic church,

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...

. *Restoration of

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution ...

consisting of clearing away the obstructions inside, re

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

ing, and adding the west window. *

Admiral Hood Monument The Hood monument is a memorial column to Sir Samuel Hood on a hill near Butleigh in the parish of Compton Dundon, Somerset, England. It was completed in 1831 to a design by Henry Goodridge. Description The monument is a Tuscan column on ...

Butleigh Butleigh is a small village and civil parish, located in Somerset. The nearest village to it is Barton St David, and it is located a short distance from Glastonbury and Street. Its population is 823. Butleigh has a church, small village shop, a ...

(1831). *

Devizes Castle Devizes Castle was a medieval fortification in the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, on a site now occupied by a Victorian-era castle. It is a Grade I listed building. The original castle (not currently visible) was overbuilt by the current s ...

(1840). *The library of

Sources

* H.M. Colvin, ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840'' (1997) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodridge, Henry Edmund 1797 births 1864 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Bath, Somerset