Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected 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 supp ...

1870–73 and being awarded its

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 1873. His reputation during his lifetime was largely as a safe establishment figure, and critical assessment has been less favourable more recently, particularly in comparison with his younger brother, the better known

Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...

. __TOC__

Personal and family life

Wyatt was born at Lough-Glin House, County Roscommon. His father was Matthew Wyatt (1773–1831), a barrister and police magistrate for Roscommon and Lambeth. Wyatt is presumed to have moved to Lambeth with his father in 1825 and then initially embarked on a career as a merchant sailing to the Mediterranean, particularly

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He married his first cousin Arabella Montagu Wyatt (1807–1875). She was the second daughter of his uncle Arthur who was an agent to the Duke of Beaufort. This consolidated his practice in Wales. He lived at and practised from 77

Great Russell Street Great Russell Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, best known for being the location of the British Museum. It runs between Tottenham Court Road (part of the A400 route) in the west, and Southampton Row (part of the A4200 route) in the east ...

. He died there on 5 August 1880 leaving an estate of £30,000. He is buried at St Lawrence's Church, Weston Patrick. The Wyatts were a significant architectural dynasty during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Career

Training

Wyatt's early training was in the office of

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

where he worked until 1832, and was involved in work on Goldsmiths Hall,

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

and the warehouses at

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

Practice

He began practice on his own account in 1832 when he was appointed District Surveyor for Hackney (a post he held until 1861). By 1838 he had acquired substantial patronage from the Duke of Beaufort, the

Earl of Denbigh Earl of Denbigh (pronounced 'Denby') is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1622 for William Feilding, 1st Viscount Feilding, a courtier, admiral, adventurer, and brother-in-law of the powerful Duke of Buckingham. The title is ...

and Sidney Herbert and David Brandon joined him as a partner. This partnership lasted until 1851. Wyatt's son Matthew (1840–1892) became his father's partner in 1860.

Positions

Wyatt was appointed as consulting or honorary architect to a number of bodies including: *the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

* The Athenaeum *Governesses Benevolent Association *

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

*Lunacy Commissioners * Incorporated Church Building Society * Diocese of Salisbury

Architectural works

Wyatt worked in many styles ranging from the Italianate of Wilton through to the Gothic of many of his churches. His practice was extensive with a large amount of work in

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 ...

largely as a result of his official position and the patronage of the Herbert family, and in Monmouthshire through the Beaufort connection

Wiltshire

Wyatt secured much work in Wiltshire, including the building of 20 churches, after offering his services for free to the Salisbury Diocesan Church Building Association in 1836. Julian Orbach considers the large new church at Wilton – "on a heroic scale" – to have made Wyatt's reputation. Below is a selective list of some of Wyatt's major works with some links to relevant information

Churches

Houses

Public buildings

Monmouthshire

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 child ...

was built in 1837/9 near Monmouth for the Rolls family.

Llantarnam Abbey Llantarnam Abbey is a Grade II*-listed abbey of the Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy and a former Cistercian monastery located in Llantarnam, Cwmbran in the county borough of Torfaen in southeast Wales. History It was founded as a daughter house ...

was built in 1834/1835 for

Reginald Blewitt Reginald James Blewitt (1799–1878) was a British MP. He built up the ''Monmouthshire Merlin'' newspaper and refurbished Llantarnam Abbey. Biography Blewitt was born in 1799 to Edward and Amelia Blewitt. His father was descended from the powe ...

: a large mansion in the Elizabethan style, built on a dissolution site. Once again an abbey, in possession of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The

Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth The Church of St Thomas the Martyr at Overmonnow, Monmouth, south east Wales, is located beside the medieval Monnow Bridge across the River Monnow. At least part of the building dates from around 1180, and it has a fine 12th-century Norman chan ...

was renovated by Wyatt.

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

Sessions House A sessions house in the United Kingdom was historically a courthouse that served as a dedicated court of quarter sessions, where criminal trials were held four times a year on quarter days. Sessions houses were also used for other purposes to do w ...

was built in 1875–1877. Other works:

London

Knightsbridge Barracks

The

Knightsbridge Barracks The Hyde Park Barracks are in Knightsbridge in central London, on the southern edge of Hyde Park. They were often known as Knightsbridge Barracks and this name is still sometimes used informally. The barracks are from Buckingham Palace, enabl ...

were built in 1878/9.

Other

Somerset

Cambridgeshire

Lancashire including Liverpool

Glamorgan and rest of Wales

Herefordshire

Hampshire

Gloucestershire

Elsewhere

Bibliography

*''The Wyatts, an Architectural Dynasty'' J M Robinson

References

External links

*
Watercolour by Wyatt of his New Liverpool Exchange
1860s or 1870s {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Thomas Henry 1807 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Irish architects People from County Roscommon Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Thomas Henry