Sir Horace Jones (20 May 1819 – 21 May 1887) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

particularly noted for his work as architect and surveyor to the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

from 1864 until his death. He served as president of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

from 1882 until 1884, and was knighted in 1886. His most recognised work,

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule and Suspended-deck suspension bridge, suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones (architect), Horace Jones and e ...

, was completed posthumously.

Biography

The son of David Jones, a lawyer, and Sarah Lydia Shephard, Jones was born at 15 Size Lane, Bucklersbury, London. He was articled to

John Wallen John Wallen (1785–1865) was a 19th-century British architect and surveyor. He was the principal quantity surveyor in the City of London during the 1830s. Many of his former students, such as Edward I'Anson went on to have notable careers. ...

, an architect and surveyor, of 16 Aldermanbury, and subsequently in 1841–42 travelled to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

studying ancient architecture.''Dictionary of National Biography'' 1885–1900 In 1843 he commenced practice as an architect at 16 Furnival's Inn,

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

. Beginning with

Cardiff Town Hall Cardiff Town Hall was the name given to four buildings which successively served as the centre of local government in Cardiff, the capital of Wales between the Middle Ages and Cardiff's elevation from ''town'' to ''city'' status in 1905. Upon the ...

(c. 1850-53) and

Caversham Park Caversham Park is a Victorian-era stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically located in Oxfordshire, it became part of Berkshire with boundary changes in 1911. Caversham Park was ...

(from c. 1850), he designed and carried out many important buildings, soon coming to concentrate on work in London. He was surveyor for the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden. The neighborhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History Origins and boundary ;Medieval and later manor Tufnell ...

estate, for the Barnard estate, and the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

estate. On 26 February 1864 he was elected architect and surveyor to the

, succeeding

James Bunstone Bunning James Bunstone Bunning (6 October 1802 – 2 November 1863) was an English architect. He held the post of architect to the City of London from 1843 until his death, and is probably best remembered for his design for the Coal Exchange. Life ...

. Jones completed projects begun by his predecessor, such as the City Lunatic Asylum at

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

, and was in charge of several renovations and additions to the

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

. He designed and built some of London's most famous markets, in particular Smithfield,

Billingsgate Billingsgate is one of the 25 Wards of the City of London. This small City Ward is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge in the south-east of the Square Mile. The modern Ward extends south to the ...

and

Leadenhall Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number of ...

. He also designed the memorial at Temple Bar, replacing Wren's arch which was a notorious traffic obstacle. Jones' final legacy is one of the most recognised buildings in the world, Tower Bridge. It was designed in collaboration with the

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

John Wolfe Barry Sir John Wolfe Barry (7 December 1836 – 22 January 1918), the youngest son of famous architect Sir Charles Barry, was an English civil engineer of the late 19th and early 20th century. His most famous project is Tower Bridge over the River ...

, who was brought in as an expert to devise the mechanism for the

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

. Following Jones' death during the initial stages of construction, the execution lay in the hands of Barry. Jones became an associate of the

in 1842, a fellow in 1855 and served as the Institute's president from 1882 to 1883. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

on 30 July 1886. He was a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and from 1882 until his death was Grand Superintendent of Works. Jones married Ann Elizabeth Patch, the daughter of John Patch, a barrister, on 15 April 1875. He died at 30 Devonshire Place, Portland Place, London, on 21 May 1887, and was buried in

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

on 27 May. A portrait of Jones by

Walter William Ouless Walter William Ouless (21 September 1848 – 25 December 1933) was a British portrait painter from Jersey. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1877 and a full member (RA) in 1881. Life and career He was born in 1848 at 53 Para ...

RA was exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

Exhibition in 1887.

Works

All in London unless otherwise stated.

Destroyed

, c. 1850-53, demolished 1913. * Marshall & Snelgrove's

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

, 1850s. *

Surrey Music Hall Royal Surrey Gardens were pleasure gardens in Newington, Surrey, London in the Victorian period, slightly east of The Oval. The gardens occupied about to the east side of Kennington Park Road, including a lake of about . It was the site of Su ...

, Newington, 1856. *Sovereign Assurance offices,

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

, 1857. *

British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company (also called the Magnetic Telegraph Company or the Magnetic) was founded by John Brett in 1850. The Magnetic was the principal competitor to the largest telegraph company in the United Kingdom, ...

's office,

Threadneedle Street Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, England, between Bishopsgate at its northeast end and Bank junction in the southwest. It is one of nine streets that converge at Bank. It lies in the ward of Cornhill. History The stree ...

, 1859. A contemporary account refers to the building's "rather fanciful, and very ornate French Renaiassance facade, crowned by a lofty clock-tower." *Council Chamber,

, 1884. * Bishopsgate Police Station, 1866, demolished 1930s

Extant

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, c. 1850 (now within the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

). *

Smithfield Market Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...

. Built in three stages: Central Meat Market, 1866–67; Poultry and Provision Market, 1873–5 (burnt 1958); Fruit and Vegetable Market, 1879–83. *Foreign Cattle Market, 1871. Conversion of

Convoys Wharf Convoys Wharf, formerly called the King's Yard, is the site of Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards, built on a riverside site in Deptford, by the River Thames in London, England. It was first developed in 1513 by Henry VIII to bui ...

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

. *Library and Museum, Guildhall, 1872 (now fulfilling different functions). *

Billingsgate Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was origi ...

, 1874-78 (1985-89 converted into offices by

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British architect noted for his modernist and Functionalism (architecture), functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner a ...

). * Temple Bar Memorial, 1880. The elaborate

pedestal A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...

in a

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style, decorated with some

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s as well as

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

s of ''

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

'' and ''The Prince of Wales'', serves as the base for

Charles Bell Birch Charles Bell Birch (28 September 1832 – 16 October 1893) was a British sculptor. Biography Birch was born at Brixton in south London, the son of the author and translator Jonathan Birch (1783–1847) and his wife Esther (née Brooke). As a ...

's ''

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

'' (but really a

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

), the symbol of the City of London. *

Leadenhall Market Leadenhall Market is a covered market in London, located on Gracechurch Street but with vehicular access also available via Whittington Avenue to the north and Lime Street to the south and east, and additional pedestrian access via a number of ...

, 1880-81. *former

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

, John Carpenter Street, completed in 1886. *

, approved design 1884, construction by John Wolfe Barry 1886-94. Jones' stonework in the

Baronial Style Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival which Revivalism (architecture), revived the forms and ornaments of historical Architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages, ...

, supposed to be in harmony with the nearby

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

, is pure facade which disguises the metal structure underneath.Images of Tower Bridge during construction
/ref>

Gallery

File:CavershamPark.jpg, Caversham Park File:Leadenhall Market DSC00193.png, Leadenhall Market File:London Strand 501523 h000015.jpg, Temple Bar Memorial File:001SFEC TOWER BRIDGE-200705.JPG, Tower Bridge File:Grave of Sir Horace Jones in West Norwood Cemetery.jpg, Grave of Sir Horace Jones in

Notes and references

Sources

External links

* G. C. Boase
''Jones, Sir Horace (1819–1887)''
rev. Valerie Scott,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 2004 (Subscription required)
Sir Horace Jones
biography at the Tower Bridge Restoration website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Horace, Sir 1819 births 1887 deaths 19th-century English architects Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects Architects from London Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Artists' Rifles soldiers