Hugh Greville Castle Spencely (1900–1983) was a British architect. He mostly worked in partnership with

Anthony Minoprio Sir Charles Anthony Minoprio (1900–1988) was a British architect and town planner. Much of his early work was in partnership with Hugh Spencely (1900–1983), a friend since they attended Harrow School together. Later he worked more as a town ...

(1900–1988), the two having been friends since they were schoolboys at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

Career

Minoprio and Spencely designed the 1932 extension to the Royal School for the Blind, Liverpool, founded in 1791 by

Edward Rushton Edward Rushton (1756–1814) was a British poet, writer and bookseller from Liverpool, England. He worked as a sailor aboard a slave ship as a young man, and became an abolitionist as a result. After losing his own vision, he opened a school fo ...

. They also designed Fairacres, Roehampton, a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

four-storey apartment block at Roehampton Lane,

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

, London. It was built in 1936, for the property developer

Charles Kearley Charles Hudson Kearley (11 June 1904–1989), was an English property development, property developer and art collector. Background and education Kearley was educated at Gresham's School, Norfolk. His father, C. F. Kearley, was the brother of Hu ...

. The block of 64 flats in a semi-elliptical arc is modern in style with 1930s curved walls, but traditional in construction. It is very little altered since being built.

Personal life

In 1931, Spencely married Patricia Emily Manson-Bahr, the daughter of Sir Philip Manson-Bahr. They had four children, Janet Mary, Hugh David, John Despenser and Sally Catherine Spencely. Spencely designed and built an "elegant, idiosyncratic house" for himself and his family in 1936 at

Crockham Hill Crockham Hill is a village in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It is about south of Westerham, and Chartwell is nearby. The village has a population of around 270 people. It contains a 19th-century pub, the Royal Oak, and Holy Trinity ch ...

, Kent, on land he had bought three years earlier. The New House (now known as Spencely's and listed at Grade II in 2023) combines elements of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and traditional

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencely, Hugh Greville 1900 births 1983 deaths People educated at Harrow School 20th-century English architects