Sir Aston Webb (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British architect who designed the principal facade of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and the main building of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, among other major works around England, many of them in partnership with

Ingress Bell Edward Ingress Bell (1837–1914) was an English architect of the late 19th century, and early 20th century, who worked for many years with Sir Aston Webb. Bell was born in Ingress Park, Greenhithe, Kent, and had already undertaken commis ...

. He was President of 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 ...

from 1919 to 1924. He was also the founding Chairman of the

London Society ''London Society'' was a Victorian era illustrated monthly periodical, subtitled "an illustrated magazine of light and amusing literature for the hours of relaxation". It was published between 1862 and 1898 by W. Clowes and Sons, London. The m ...

Life

The son of a watercolourist (and former pupil of the landscape artist David Cox), Edward Webb, Aston Webb was born in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, South London, on 22 May 1849 and received his initial architectural training articled in the firm of

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

and

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

from 1866 to 1871, after which he spent a year travelling in Europe and Asia. He returned to London in 1874 to set up his own practice. From the early 1880s, he joined 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 supp ...

(1883) and began working in partnership with

(1836–1914). Their first major commission was a winning design for the Victoria Law Courts in Birmingham (1886), the first of numerous public building schemes the pair designed over the next 23 years. Towards the end of his career Webb was assisted by his sons,

Maurice Maurice may refer to: People * Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr * Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...

and

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who populariz ...

Ralph Knott Ralph Knott (3 May 1878 – 25 January 1929) was a British architect. He was responsible for building the massive 6-storey "Edwardian Baroque" style County Hall building for the London County Council. Knott was a native of Chelsea and was th ...

, who designed London's County Hall, began his work as an apprentice to Webb executing the drawings for his competition entries. He died in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

, London, on 21 August 1930.

Honours and awards

He served as RIBA President (1902–1904) and, having been elected as a full member of the Royal Academy in 1903, served as acting president from 1919 to 1924. He received the

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

for Architecture in 1905 and was the first recipient of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

in 1907. He was the first chairman of the

in 1912. 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 church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

in 1904, appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...

in 1909; and appointed to the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

as Commander in 1911, promoted to Knight Commander in 1914 and Knight Grand Cross in 1925. In 2011, after being selected by local residents, a new traffic relief boulevard constructed in proximity to 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 ...

was named after Webb.

Works

One of his earliest works was built for the

Six Masters The Royal Grammar School Worcester (also known as RGS Worcester or RGSW) is an eleven-eighteen mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Founded before 1291, it is one of the oldest British independen ...

of The

Royal Grammar School Worcester The Royal Grammar School Worcester (also known as RGS Worcester or RGSW) is an eleven-eighteen mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. Founded before 1291, it is one of the oldest British independent d ...

in 1877. These

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s are in the

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 ...

style, different from his later work. In 1881 he designed North Breache Manor in Surrey. A small country house in the Tudor Gothic manner, but with Arts and Crafts detailing, it was one of the largest and most extravagant of his private contracts from this earlier period. Webb's first major work was the restoration of the medieval

St Bartholomew-the-Great The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to Great St Bart's, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London located in Smithfield within the City of London. The building was founded as an Augusti ...

in Smithfield, London. His brother Edward Alfred Webb was the churchwarden at the time, and his association with the church probably helped the young architect get the job. In London, Webb's best known works include the Queen

Victoria Memorial The Victoria Memorial is a large marble building on the Maidan in Central Kolkata, built between 1906 and 1921. It is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, Empress of India from 1876 to 1901. The largest monument to a monarch anywhere ...

and The Mall approach to, and the principal facade of,

, which he re-designed in 1913. Webb also designed the

's main building (designed 1891, opened 1909), the

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

(1893–95), and – as part of The Mall scheme –

Admiralty Arch Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mo ...

(1908–09). He also designed the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

, Devon, where Royal Naval officers are still trained. He enlarged and sympathetically restored the perpendicular Church of St John Baptist,

Claines Claines is a small village just to the north of Worcester, England, on the east bank of the River Severn. Claines is situated in the heart of Worcestershire on the A449 between Worcester and Kidderminster. It has a church which dates from the 10t ...

, Worcester, finishing in 1886. Nearby he was also responsible for the new church of St. George, consecrated in 1895, which replaced an earlier smaller building in St. George's Square, Barbourne, Worcester. With his partner

, he extended St Andrew's Church, in Fulham Fields, London, remodelled the chancel, built the Lady Chapel, and designed the rood screen. He also designed the Holy Trinity Cathedral in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

. Other educational commissions included the new buildings of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

, Sussex (1893–1902), the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

(1900–06),

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

(1908), the

Royal School of Mines The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, and Materials at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Bi ...

, South Kensington (1909–13),

Royal Russell School Royal Russell School is an independent school in the Shirley area of Croydon, South London. It is a co-educational day and boarding school. The motto of the school is ''Non sibi sed omnibus'' meaning "Not for one's self but for all". The sch ...

Coombe, Croydon Coombe is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, situated south-east of central Croydon, between Addiscombe, Selsdon and Upper Shirley. Formerly a hamlet, since the growth of suburban development the area has become swallowed into the London ...

, Surrey, and the

Royal College of Science for Ireland The Royal College of Science for Ireland (RCScI) was an institute for higher education in Dublin which existed from 1867 to 1926, specialising in physical sciences and applied science. It was originally based on St. Stephen's Green, moving in 1 ...

which now houses the Irish Government Buildings. Residential commissions included Nos 2 (''The Gables'') and 4 (''Windermere'') Blackheath Park, in Blackheath, south-east London. He also designed (1895–96) a library wing, including the Cedar Library, at

The Hendre The Hendre, ( cy, Yr Hendre a farmer's winter residence; literally meaning old home) in Rockfield, is the only full-scale Victorian country house in the county of Monmouthshire, Wales. The ancestral estate of the Rolls family, it was the chil ...

, a large Victorian mansion in Monmouthshire, for John Allan Rolls, first Lord Llangattock. In March 1889 the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church * Consistor ...

of the

French Protestant Church of London The French Protestant Church of London (''Église protestante française de Londres'') is a Reformed / Presbyterian church that has catered to the French-speaking community of London since 1550. It is the last remaining Huguenot church of Lon ...

commissioned (Sir) Aston Webb to design a new church. It was erected in 1891–93 at 8–9 Soho Square in London. The church is one of Aston Webb's Gothic school works. In 1901 Aston Webb designed the headquarters for a brewery at 115 Tooley Street, London, recently converted into 14 apartments as " Aston Webb House". This was done as part of the development of

More London More London, part of an area known as London Bridge City, is a development on the south bank of the River Thames, immediately south-west of Tower Bridge in London. It is owned by the Kuwaiti sovereign wealth fund. It includes the City Hall, a ...

Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray, (15 July 1856 – 1 May 1927), known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt between 1894 and 1910, and as Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Lib ...

, commissioned Webb to undertake major extensions to his property,

Dunecht House Dunecht House is a stately home on the Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The house is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national l ...

, Aberdeenshire, which were carried out 1913–20. At the

(1900–1912), the whole of the original scheme, in the Byzantine style, was the product of the Webb-Bell partnership. This consisted of a curved building with five radial blocks. The central building of Chancellor's Court containing the Great Hall is named after Aston Webb. The main feature is a large dome that sits atop the entrance

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

. The two radial blocks to each side were to be teaching blocks for various engineering disciplines; but the easternmost was not built until the Bramall Music Building was added roughly a century later. The scheme also included the straight run of buildings to the north completing the 'D' shape. Originally these were the physics and chemistry departments, and the Harding Memorial Library. The scheme was set off by the free standing clock tower (" Old Joe") over 100 metres high and the tallest structure in Birmingham until 1966. Sir Aston Webb also designed the chapels of

Worksop College Worksop College (formerly St Cuthbert's College) is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils aged 13 to 18, in Worksop. It sits at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, England. Founded ...

, Nottinghamshire (1911) and

Ellesmere College (''Striving for one's country'') , established = 1879 , song = ''Jerusalem'' , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding schoolDay School , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, Shropshire (1926), both of which are

Woodard Schools Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools (both primary and secondary) affiliated to the Woodard Corporation (formerly the Society of St Nicolas) which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo ...

Gallery of architectural work

File:Admiralty Arch - 01.jpg,

, The Mall, London File:Birmingham - Lawcourt 2.JPG, Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham File:Irishgovbuildings.JPG,

Government Buildings, Dublin Government Buildings ( ga, Tithe an Rialtais) is a large Edwardian period, Edwardian building enclosing a quadrangle on Merrion Street in Dublin, Ireland, in which several key offices of the Government of Ireland are located. Among the offices o ...

, Ireland File:ImperialCollegeLondon.jpg, Main entrance,

, South Kensington, London File:BRNC-Dartmouth.jpg,

, Dartmouth, Devon File:Entrance Victoria and Albert Museum 2011.jpg, Main entrance,

, South Kensington, London File:London Troops memorial, Royal Exchange.jpg, The London Troops war memorial, Royal Exchange, sculpture by

Alfred Drury Edward Alfred Briscoe Drury (11 November 1856 – 24 December 1944) was a British architectural sculptor and artist active in the New Sculpture movement. During a long career Drury created a great number of decorative figures such as busts an ...

File:Facade.7.jpg, Cromwell Gardens Facade, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London File:BirminghamUniversityChancellorsCourt.jpg, Aston Webb building,

File:Quad DH.jpg, Quad,

in Horsham, West Sussex File:The Hendre 1.JPG,

, Monmouthshire, Wales File:French Protestant Church, Soho Square.JPG, French Protestant Church, Soho Square File:Dunecht House - geograph.org.uk - 1448192.jpg,

, Aberdeenshire File:London-Victoria and Albert Museum-Building-02.jpg, Victoria and Albert Museum File:045SFEC LONDON-20070917.JPG, The Victoria Memorial, The Mall, London File:Buckingham Palace from gardens, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, Buckingham Palace. This is the principal

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

, the East Front; originally constructed by

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's back ...

and completed in 1850, it was redesigned in 1913 by Sir Aston Webb. File:Royal School of Mines entrance.jpg, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London File:Hong Kong Legislative Council Building.jpg,

Court of Final Appeal Building The Court of Final Appeal Building, also known as the Old Supreme Court Building, is the home of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. It housed the former Supreme Court from 1912 to 1983 and the Legislative Council from 1985 to 2011. ...

, Hong Kong File:St George's church Barbourne Worcester.jpg, St George's church, Barbourne, Worcester File:St Andrew, St Andrews Road, West Kensington W14 - Chancel - geograph.org.uk - 1898758.jpg, St Andrew's Church, Fulham, London. This is the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

, designed by Sir Aston Webb.

Notes

External links

Webb's biography
with emphasis on his work at St. Bartholomew's; includes numerous references
Claines Church
one of Webb's restorations from 1886
St. George's Church, Barbourne, Worcester
by Aston Webb, 1895.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Aston 1849 births 1930 deaths Architects from London Artists' Rifles soldiers Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order People associated with Imperial College London People associated with the University of Birmingham Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Royal Academicians