Thomas Lawrence Dale
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Thomas Lawrence Dale, FRIBA, FSA (known as T.L. Dale, T. Lawrence Dale or Lawrence Dale) was an English architect. Until the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he concentrated on designing houses for private clients. From the 1930s Dale was the Oxford Diocesan Surveyor and was most noted for designing, restoring, and furnishing
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
es.


Training and career

Dale was born in London, where he was educated at University College School in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
.Brodie, 2001, page 492 He began his architectural training at the
Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...
in 1900, was
articled Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
to Charles Ponting in
Marlborough, Wiltshire Marlborough ( , ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English Counties of England, county of Wiltshire on the A4 road (England), Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath, Somerset, Bath. Th ...
1901–04, and served as assistant to the architect
Edmund Buckle Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...
1904–06. Dale passed his architect's qualifying examination in 1906 and was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1907. Before the First World War, Dale lived in Bedford Park in west London. By the outbreak of that war he had his own practice at 40 Great James Street, off Bedford Row, London WC1. In the war he was commissioned as an officer in an infantry battalion, but when he was placed in reserve he successfully applied to transfer to the Army Cyclist Corps to see active service. He rose to the rank of Captain and was
mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
. After the war, Dale moved to Banbury where he designed a housing estate for
Banbury Rural District Banbury was a rural district in Oxfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974.Freemasons' Grand Temple in
Great Queen Street Great Queen Street is a street in the West End of central London in England. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, w ...
in London. Dale came second, for which he won ''"a large prize"''. Some time thereafter he moved to
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 ...
, where he designed the modest neo-Georgian house that was built for him and his family at 358 Woodstock Road.Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 334 He later moved again to 4
Bradmore Road Bradmore Road is a residential road in North Oxford, England. At the northern end of the road is a junction with Norham Road and at the southern end is a junction with Norham Gardens, with the University Parks opposite. Halfway along the ...
on the
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
Norham Manor estate. Dale served as Oxford Diocesan Surveyor for 23 years. He designed at least four
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
es that were built in or near Oxford. He also designed restoration work or new furnishings for a number of parish churches; most of them in
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 ...
, plus one in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
.


Family

Dale's wife predeceased him. They left two sons and two daughters. By the time of Dale's death, both sons had married and one of the daughters was a Sister in a religious order. Dale's death in 1959 was reported in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
''.
Harry Carpenter Harry Leonard Carpenter, OBE (17 October 1925 – 20 March 2010) was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing. He was presenter of programmes such as ''Sportsnig ...
, Bishop of Oxford, assisted at his funeral. Lawrence Dale is buried in Wolvercote Cemetery near his home in Oxford. Dale's elder son Thomas Simon Savage Dale (known as Simon Dale) was born in 1919 and also became an architect. They practised together as Dale and Son. In 1957 Simon Dale married Susan Wilberforce, a descendant of
William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...
, and moved with her to Hopton Castle, Shropshire. Simon Dale later lost his sight, was divorced in 1972, and in 1987 was beaten to death at The Heath, the house that he and Susan had restored at Hopton Castle.


Secular buildings

Two of Dale's earlier works are
Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
houses in Hampstead Garden Suburb, one of which has been described as ''"an excellent house of the
Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...
school"''. Horn Park, a
country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
about north-west of Beaminster, Dorset, is Dale's largest and perhaps most significant house design. It is a symmetrical neo-Georgian building of five
bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
and two storeys, completed in 1911.Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 88 Its central corridor is
barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
ed and leads to a drawing room whose groin vault is reminiscent of the work of Sir John Soane (1753–1837). The house is Listed Grade II. Lawrence and Simon Dale together designed Ickford Village Hall (1946). The roof and almost all of the walls are hung with wooden
shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...
, possibly in response to the shortage of many types of building material after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.


Parish churches

Like Charles Ponting (1850–1932) to whom he had been articled, Dale's ecclesiastical architecture was strongly
Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
. However, whereas Ponting continued to work in the
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
idiom long after it had passed out of fashion, Dale adopted
Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
for his churches. Dale designed at least four parish churches for the Diocese of Oxford. The first, St. Francis of Assisi, Cowley (1930–31), was built on a site provided by Morris Motors as a temporary
daughter church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...
of St. James, Cowley.Crossley & Elrington, 1979, pages 369–412 It was made a permanent church and dedicated in 1962. St. Francis' is a simple building with only a small
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
. Dale's second church, St. Alban the Martyr, Oxford (1933), replaced a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...
that had been built for St. Mary and St. John parish church in 1889. St. Alban's is a relatively low building for its length and is limited by a narrow corner site. He also designed ''"halls"'' – possibly mission halls – for the parishes of St. Nicholas, Marston and St. James, Cowley. Dale's churches built after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
were more ambitious. St. Michael and All Angels, New Marston (1954–56),Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, pages 336–337 was built as a chapel of ease for St. Andrew's parish church,
Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...
. It is more substantial in scale and has a statue of St. Michael by Michael Groser and a
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
painted by
Leon Underwood George Claude Leon Underwood (25 December 1890 – 9 October 1975) was a British artist, although primarily known as a sculptor, printmaker and painter, he was also an influential teacher and promotor of African art. His travels in Mexico a ...
. St. Michael's is described as being in a ''"vaguely Italian renaissance style"'' but the building is slightly limited by its corner site. Dale's final church, St. Swithun,
Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...
(1956–58),Pevsner, 1966, page 159 is in a spacious churchyard that allowed Dale the space to use a more spacious
cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...
plan. Most of Dale's churches share common features: a tympanum with bas-reliefs over the main door, pantiled roofs, an Italianate pent-roofed chimney for the boiler and in some cases a baldachin over the main altar and a pantiled
bell-cot A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...
on the west gable. With the exception of St. Francis of Assisi (which is
stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
ed) they are built of a modern buff brick that contrasts with traditional building materials in this part of England. The tympanum at St. Alban the Martyr was carved by John Brookes, then Principal of Oxford City Technical College. St. Francis' has also a set of
Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...
carved by
Eric Gill Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...
.Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 339


Watercolours

Dale was a
watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
ist ''"of more than average ability"'' who was a member of local arts clubs in Oxford. He held a number of exhibitions of his work, which was compared with that of Paul Sandby.


"Christ Church Mall"

Central Oxford had become acutely congested with motor traffic in the 1920s and 1930s. When Dale first moved from Banbury to Oxford he practised from an office in Carfax ''"but the traffic there was shocking"'' so he gave up his office and practised from home. In September 1941 Dale published a six-page pamphlet called ''Christ Church Mall: a Diversion'' in which he proposed a relief road skirting the south side of Christ Church Meadow along the bank of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
to link
Abingdon Road Abingdon Road is the main arterial road to the south of the city of Oxford, England. The road passes through the suburbs of Grandpont and New Hinksey. It is named after the town of Abingdon to the south. History Part of the road was known as ...
and Iffley Road to bypass High Street. In 1944 Dale expanded on his proposals into a 60-page book, ''Towards a Plan for Oxford City'', illustrated with some of his own watercolours. In it he reiterated his "Christ Church Mall" road proposal and proposed extensive redevelopment of St. Clement's and
St. Ebbes St Ebbes is a district of central Oxford, England, southwest of Carfax. St Ebbes Street runs south from the western end of Queen Street. __TOC__ Overview The area takes its name from the parish church of St Ebbe's, dedicated to Saint Æ ...
. In 1946 the
County Borough of 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 ...
commissioned Thomas Sharp to make proposals to relieve Oxford's traffic and re-plan parts of the city. In 1948 Sharp published his report as a book, ''Oxford Replanned'', in which he paid tribute:
''Mr. Dale has presented his case very attractively and wittily, and has done the city a considerable service in braving the controversy which was bound to result from any attempt to touch even the hem of the sacred Christ Church Meadow.''
However, Sharp also thought that Dale's "Christ Church Mall" would be too indirect, particularly for traffic from Headington Hill and Marston Road. Sharp instead proposed a road across the northern side of Christ Church Meadow, which he called "Merton Mall" as it would have passed very close to
Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...
. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' also commended Dale for ''"presenting his case with architectural vision, wit and eloquence"'' in ''Towards a Plan for Oxford City'', and quoted Dale's vision that ''"a finely designed parkway"'' would be ''"A beautiful road between the Towers and the Thames severally dreaming and streaming"''. In 1956 the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation held an enquiry at which Dale continued to make his case. Dale told the enquiry:
''nobody more than he admired the beauty of Christ Church Meadow, and anyone who wanted a road through it was a vandal. But, he said, there was a vast difference in having a road round the Meadow, as he was suggesting. The road could be so landscaped that it could not be seen from the river or from the north side of the meadow. The real beauty of the meadow was Merton Fields and the Broad Walk, and that would be destroyed by Dr. Sharp's plan.''
Dale cited in his support Professor Sir
Albert Richardson Sir Albert Edward Richardson (London, 19 May 1880 – 3 February 1964) was a leading English architect, teacher and writer about architecture during the first half of the 20th century. He was Professor of Architecture at University College Lon ...
, then 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 ...
, who ''"had said, in 1944, that Christ Church Meadow would suffer no detriment if skirted by a tree-lined road"''. Sharp's proposal was the subject of more than 20 years of political and public debate and protest. Neither Sharp's nor Dale's proposed road was ever built.


List of works


Buildings

* Bedford Park, London: studio house for an artist, 1908 *40 Hampstead Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 1909 *Horn Park, Beaminster, Dorset, 1911 *Gates House, Wyldes Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 1915 *St Francis of Assisi, Cowley, Oxfordshire, 1930–31 *St Alban the Martyr parish church, Charles Street,
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 ...
, 1933 *
Itchen Abbas Itchen Abbas is a village on the River Itchen about north-east of Winchester in Hampshire, England. The village is part of the Itchen Valley civil parish. A major oil pipeline from Hamble to Aldermaston runs through Itchen Abbas. Parish churc ...
, Hampshire: house, 1935 *Hook Manor,
Semley Semley is a village in Sedgehill and Semley civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about north-east of Shaftesbury in neighbouring Dorset. The hamlet of Sem Hill lies about a quarter of a mile west of the village. The River Sem, from which the v ...
, Wiltshire: remodelled 17th century Jacobean
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
, 1935 *Blessed Virgin Mary parish church,
Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...
, Oxfordshire: repairs to stonework, 1937–38 *Village Hall, Ickford, Buckinghamshire, 1946 (with Simon Dale) *St Etheldreda's parish church, Horley, Oxfordshire: screen and
rood loft 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 ...
, 1947–50 *St Michael and All Angels parish church, New Marston, Oxford, 1954–56 *St Swithun's parish church, Kennington, Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire), (with Rev. Stuart S. Davies) 1956–58 * Deddington Primary School, Oxfordshire: modernisation, new classroom ''etc.'', 1958 *358 Woodstock Road, Oxford: house for Dale and his family * Goddard's Green, Berkshire: restoration of a house * St Mary Magdalene parish church, Lillington, Warwickshire: pulpit *SS. Mary and Edburga's parish church, Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire: tower screenSherwood & Pevsner, 1974, pages 794, 795


Writings

* * * * *


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, T Lawrence 1884 births 1959 deaths Burials in Oxfordshire Military personnel from London 20th-century English architects Architects from London Architects from Oxford English ecclesiastical architects People educated at University College School Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects British Army personnel of World War I Army Cyclist Corps officers Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects Burials at Wolvercote Cemetery