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Philip Speakman Webb (12 January 1831 – 17 April 1915) was a 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 ...
and designer sometimes called the Father of
Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
Architecture. His use of
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 ...
demonstrated his commitment to "the art of common building."


Biography

Born in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, Webb studied at Aynho in Northamptonshire and was then articled to firms of builder-architects in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
and
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, Berkshire. He then moved to London where he eventually became a junior assistant to the architect
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 eccl ...
. While there he met
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
in 1856 and then started his own practice in 1858. He is particularly noted as the designer of the Red House at
Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in south-east London, England. It had a population of 31,929 as at 2011. Bexleyheath is located south-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
, south-east London in 1859 for William Morris, and – towards the end of his career – the house Standen (near East Grinstead in
West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
). These were among several works in his favoured niche: country houses. A
Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...
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 ...
commemorates both Webb and Morris at the Red House. William Morris,
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...
and
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
were three of his partners in the interior decorating and furnishing business, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., later to become Morris & Co. Webb and Morris formed an important part of the Arts and Crafts movement, and founded the
Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...
in 1877. With Morris, Webb wrote the SPAB Manifesto, one of the key documents in the history of building conservation. He attended over 700 SPAB Committee meetings as well as undertaking numerous site visits. Webb also joined Morris's revolutionary Socialist League, becoming its treasurer. George Howard of
Naworth Castle Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69, about east of Brampton. It is on the opposite side of the River Irthing to, and ...
near
Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
in Cumbria was an able artist and friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, and a keen patron of Philip Webb. Webb had built two houses for his Naworth Castle Estate: Four Gables and Green Lane House, as well as his London house at 1 Palace Green. Much financial help was offered by Charles Howard MP (George Howard's father) towards building a new church in Brampton on condition that he chose the architect. Webb's plan for St Martin's Church is quite unlike most other Victorian churches, with the body of the church being almost square. It is the only church designed by Webb, and contains an exquisite set of stained glass windows designed by Burne-Jones, and executed in the William Morris studio. His friendship with the family of Sir
Thomas Hugh Bell Sir Thomas Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet, (10 February 1844 – 29 June 1931) was an English industrialist, landowner, Justice of the Peace, and administrator. A Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham, he was High Sheriff of Durham in 1895 and Lord ...
, a leading ironfounder of Middlesbrough, led to three commissions: Rounton Grange (demolished in 1953), Red Barns House in 1868, in which
Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highl ...
lived as a child, and the
Bell Brothers Losh, Wilson and Bell, later Bells, Goodman, then Bells, Lightfoot and finally Bell Brothers, was a leading Northeast England manufacturing company, founded in 1809 by the partners William Losh, Thomas Wilson, and Thomas Bell. The firm was ...
office building in Middlesbrough (his only commercial development; later to be the Dorman Long offices). An additional commission in the Cleveland area was Briarmead, completed in 1883, located north of Greatham village, near Hartlepool. The adjoining St Francis Cottage was completed by W.F. Linton (Middlesbrough) in 1895 in the style of Webb. In 1901 Philip Webb retired to the country and ceased practising. He continued to be an influence on the "school of rational builders" surrounding
William Lethaby William Richard Lethaby (18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of co ...
, and
Ernest Gimson Ernest William Gimson (; 21 December 1864 – 12 August 1919) was an English furniture designer and architect. Gimson was described by the art critic Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest of the English architect-designers". Today his reputati ...
and his community of architect-craftsmen based at Sapperton in Gloucestershire. Between 1902 and 1903, Webb contributed to the design and manufacture of the
University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
's ceremonial mace.


Projects

*
Red House, Bexleyheath Red House is a significant Arts and Crafts building located in Bexleyheath, south-east London, England. Co-designed in 1859 by the architect Philip Webb and the designer William Morris, it was created to serve as a family home for Morris. Const ...
, (1859) *Sandroyd, now Benfleet Hall, Cobham, Surrey (1860) *Cranmer Hall wing, Fakenham (c.1860) and Coach House (1860) *91-101 Worship St, London EC2 (1862) *
Arisaig Arisaig ( gd, Àrasaig) is a village in Lochaber, Inverness-shire. It lies south of Mallaig on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, within the Rough Bounds. Arisaig is also the traditional name for part of the surrounding peninsula south ...
House, Highland (1863, rebuilt 1937) *All Saints' and St Richard's Church of England Primary School, Old Heathfield, East Sussex, (Formerly Heathfield Church of England Primary School) (1864) * 1 Palace Green, London (1868) *Red Barns House,
Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...
(1868) *19
Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
Fields, London (1868) *The West House, 35
Glebe Place Glebe Place is a street in Chelsea, London. It runs roughly north to south from King's Road to the crossroads with Upper Cheyne Row, where it becomes Cheyne Row, leading down to Cheyne Walk and the River Thames. It also has a junction with B ...
, Chelsea, London (1868–69) for
George Price Boyce George Price Boyce (24 September 1826 – 9 February 1897) was a British watercolour painter of landscapes and vernacular architecture in the Pre-Raphaelite style. He was a patron and friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Life Boyce was born in ...
*
Joldwynds Joldwynds is a modernist style house in Holmbury St Mary, Surrey, England, designed by architect Oliver Hill for Wilfred Greene, 1st Baron Greene. Completed in 1932,Powers (2005), pp. 138–139. it is a Grade II listed building. It replaced an ...
,
Holmbury St Mary Holmbury St Mary is a village in Surrey, England centered on shallow upper slopes of the Greensand Ridge. Its developed area is a clustered town southwest of Dorking and southeast of Guildford. Most of the village is in the borough of Guildfor ...
, Surrey (1874) Demolished 1930 and replaced with a Modernist house by Oliver Hill. Some ancillary buildings by Webb remain and are listed. *Smeaton Manor,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
(1878) *Four Gables, Green Lane House,
Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...
,
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
* St Martin's Church, Brampton (1878)St Martin's Pre-Raphaelite Church, Brampton, Cumbria
at www.stmartinsbrampton.org.uk *Conyhurst, Surrey (1885) *
Clouds House Clouds House, also known simply as Clouds, is a Grade II* listed building at East Knoyle in Wiltshire, England. Designed by Arts and Crafts architect Philip Webb for Percy Wyndham and his wife Madeline, it was first completed in 1886, but an 1 ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
(1886) *
Naworth Castle Naworth Castle, also known or recorded in historical documents as "Naward", is a castle in Cumbria, England, near the town of Brampton. It is adjacent to the A69, about east of Brampton. It is on the opposite side of the River Irthing to, and ...
, Cumbria * Standen, West Sussex (1892–94) *Bell & Co Ltd (offices), Zetland Rd,
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...
(1891) * Rounton Grange, near Middlesbrough (for Sir
Isaac Lowthian Bell Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, 1st Baronet, FRS (18 February 1816 – 20 December 1904) was a Victorian ironmaster and Liberal Party politician from Washington, County Durham, in the north of England. He was described as being "as famous in his day ...
) – subsequently destroyed *Forthampton Court,
Forthampton Forthampton is a village in Gloucestershire, England The village is located three miles from the market town of Tewkesbury and features "a great number of interesting buildings", fine views, several duck ponds, a church, a collection of thatched ...
, Gloucestershire (1889–92) *
Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...
, Gloucestershire (1874–77)


Notes


Further reading

*Lethaby, W.R. (1935/1979).''Philip Webb and His Work''. Oxford University Press 1935. Reprinted Raven Oak Press 1979. *Kirk, Sheila (2005).''Philip Webb: Pioneer of the Arts and Crafts Movement''. Wiley-Academy *Miele, Chris(Ed)(2005).''From William Morris: Building Conservation and the Arts and Crafts Cult of Authenticity 1877-1939''. Yale University Press. *Aplin, John (2016). ''The Letters of Philip Webb'' 4 vols, Routledge 2016.


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Philip 1831 births 1915 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Oxford Arts and Crafts architects Arts and Crafts movement artists Morris & Co. Socialist League (UK, 1885) members