John Francis Bentley by William Christian Symons

John Francis Bentley (30 January 1839 – 2 March 1902) was an English ecclesiastical

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 ...

whose most famous work is the Westminster Cathedral in London, England, built in a style heavily influenced by

Byzantine architecture Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire. The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until th ...

Life

Bentley was born in Doncaster. In 1839, he was associated with the firm of Holland & Hannan. He was an apt modeller and had tried his hand with success at stone carving. He studied under Henry Clutton before branching out on his own in 1868.Williamson, George. "John Francis Bentley." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 5 June 2019 His first important commission was from Cardinal Manning, for the seminary at Hammersmith. Examples of his work include Holy Rood Church, Watford,

St John's Beaumont School St John's Beaumont School is an independent day and boarding Jesuit preparatory school, and is for boys aged 3 to 13 years old.Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Corpus Christi Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Brixton, part of the Archdiocese of Southwark within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was previously under the administration of the Society of Jesus whilst remaining part of the Arc ...

, St Mary's, Cadogan Street, Chelsea (1879), the high altar at St Gabriel's, Warwick Square, and St Luke's Church,

Chiddingstone Causeway Chiddingstone Causeway is a village west of Tonbridge in Kent, England. It is within the Sevenoaks local government district. It is in the civil parish of Chiddingstone. The village is served by Penshurst Station on the Redhill to Tonbridge Li ...

(1897), and the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street. Though much of his work was in the neo-Gothic style, he was selected to create a Byzantine Revival design for Westminster Cathedral. The great opportunity of Bentley's career came in 1894, when he was commissioned to design a new Roman Catholic cathedral in Westminster, London. After deciding on a Byzantine Revival design, Bentley travelled to Italy to study some of the great early Byzantine-influenced cathedrals, such as

St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...

in Venice. Because of illness and an outbreak of cholera in Istanbul, he was unable to complete his tour with a study of the Hagia Sophia. Bentley ended his tour in Venice and returned to London to begin work on Westminster Cathedral. George Williamson describes him as a person of brusque, reserved manner, but kind and friendly to those who knew him. He had the strongest dislike to the preparation of show drawings and to the system of architectural competition and, being a man wholly lacking in self-assertion, and reticent in conversation, was never as well known in general circles as he deserved to be. His great characteristics as an architect were his careful attention to detail, his solicitude that all the fittings should be in perfect harmony with the building. In 1874 he married Margaret Annie Fleuss; they had 4 sons and 7 daughters. Their house in Clapham has a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. Bentley was awarded the gold medal of the Institute of Architects in February, 1902, but never received it, as on 1 March he was seized with paralysis and died the following morning in Clapham. He is buried at St Mary Magdalen Church, Mortlake.

Architectural work

File:Westminster.cathedral.interior.london.arp.jpg, Westminster Cathedral, interior looking east File:Westminster Cathedral 4227r.jpg, Westminster Cathedral, Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament File:Westminster Cathedral IMG 4616.JPG, Westminster Cathedral, The Baptistry File:Westminster Cathedral interior.jpg, Westminster Cathedral, The Lady Chapel File:Westminster Cathedral IMG 4502-Westminster Cathedral IMG 4505.jpg, Westminster Cathedral, The Sanctuary File:Westminster Cathedral IMG 4607.JPG, Westminster Cathedral, The Shrine of the Sacred Heart and St Michael File:St_Mary's,_Cadogan_Street_exterior.jpg, St Mary's, Cadogan Street File:Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Brixton Hill - geograph.org.uk - 472908.jpg,

Corpus Christi Church, Brixton Corpus Christi Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Brixton, part of the Archdiocese of Southwark within the London Borough of Lambeth. It was previously under the administration of the Society of Jesus whilst remaining part of the Arc ...

File:Church of the Immaculate Conception, The Sacred Heart Chapel.jpg, Church of the Immaculate Conception, The Sacred Heart Chapel File:Holy Rood Church by Nigel Cox Geograph 1883108.jpg, Holy Rood Church, Watford File:St Gabriel's Church, Warwick Square, London SW1 - Sanctuary - geograph.org.uk - 990884.jpg, St Gabriel's Church, Warwick Square, Sanctuary File:St John's Beaumont School, Old Windsor.jpg,

St John's Beaumont School St John's Beaumont School is an independent day and boarding Jesuit preparatory school, and is for boys aged 3 to 13 years old.Winefride de L'Hôpital, ''Westminster cathedral and its architect'' Volume 1 (1919)
(This volume is written by Bentley's daughter and is about the design and construction of the Cathedral)
Winefride de L'Hôpital ''Westminster cathedral and its architect'' (1919) Volume 2
(This is Volume 2 of the biography written by Bentley's daughter and deals with his early life and works other than Westminster Cathedral) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, John Francis 1839 births 1902 deaths 19th-century English architects People from Doncaster English ecclesiastical architects English Roman Catholics Burials at St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church Mortlake Architects from Yorkshire