HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

William Wilkinson (1819–1901) was a British Gothic Revival architect who practised 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 ...
, England.


Family

Wilkinson's father was a builder in
Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
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, primaril ...
. William's elder brother George Wilkinson (1814–1890) was also an architect, as were William's nephews C.C. Rolfe (died 1907) and H.W. Moore (1850–1915).


Career

Most of Wilkinson's buildings are in Oxfordshire. His major works include the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, completed in 1864. He was in partnership with his nephew H.W. Moore from 1881. In his long career Wilkinson had a number of pupils, including H.J. Tollit (1835–1904).


Works


Churches

In 1841, at the age of only 22, Wilkinson designed a new
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 ...
, Holy Trinity at
Lew, Oxfordshire Lew is a village and civil parish about southwest of Witney in the West Oxfordshire District of Oxfordshire, England. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 65. Since 2012 the parish has been part of the Curbridge and Lew joint p ...
. His other work on churches included: *St Leonard's parish church,
Eynsham Eynsham is an English village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,087 in 2020. History Eynsham grew up near the histor ...
: restoration, 1856 *Witney Cemetery: lodge and two chapels, 1857 *Witney
Workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
: chapel, 1860 *All Saints' parish church, Middleton Cheney,
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It ...
: Horton family mausoleum, 1866–67 *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. ...
, Oxford: added north aisle, 1880


Police buildings

Wilkinson moved to Oxford in 1856 and succeeded J.C. Buckler as architect to the local police committee. Oxfordshire County Constabulary was formed in 1857, and Wilkinson designed several buildings for the new force. * Watlington police station, 1858–59 * Witney police station, 1860 *
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
police station, 1863 *
Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population ...
police station, 1864–65 *
Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...
police station, 1869 *Magistrates' room at Deddington Court House, 1874


Houses

Wilkinson designed Home Farm on the
Shirburn Castle Shirburn Castle is a Grade I listed, moated castle located at the village of Shirburn, near Watlington, Oxfordshire. Originally constructed in the fourteenth century, it was renovated and remodelled in the Georgian era by Thomas Parker, the fi ...
estate, built in 1856–57. From 1860 he laid out the
Norham Manor The Norham Manor estate is a residential suburb in Oxford, England. It is part of central North Oxford. To the north is Park Town with its crescents, to the east is the River Cherwell, to the south are the University Parks and to the west is ...
estate in north Oxford. The estate was slowly developed with large villas, a number of which Wilkinson designed himself. Wilkinson also designed town houses and small country houses elsewhere in Oxfordshire: *Hollybank, Wootton, 1862–63 *10,
Broad Street, Oxford Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, just north of the former city wall. The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University of Oxford. Among res ...
, 1863 *
Whittlebury Whittlebury is a village and civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire, close to its border with Buckinghamshire. History It is due south of the town of Towcester, to which it is connected by main roads. At the time of ...
, Northamptonshire: farmhouse, 1864 *The Holt, Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire, 1864 *60
Banbury Road Banbury Road is a major arterial road in Oxford, England, running from St Giles' at the south end, north towards Banbury through the leafy suburb of North Oxford and Summertown, with its local shopping centre. Parallel and to the west is the ...
, Oxford, 1865–66 *Bignell House, Chesterton, 1866 (partly demolished) *23 and 24 Cornhill,
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...
, 1866 * Astrop Park, Northamptonshire: lodge, pheasantry and cottage, 1868 *
Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...
Almshouses: restoration, 1868. *Brashfield House,
Caversfield Caversfield is a village and civil parish about north of the centre of Bicester. In 1844 Caversfield became part of Oxfordshire, but until then it was always an exclave of Buckinghamshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as ...
, 1871–73 *Shelswell Park,
Shelswell Shelswell is a hamlet in Oxfordshire about south of Brackley in neighbouring Northamptonshire. Manor Shelswell's toponym comes from Old English and suggests that the settlement may originally have been the well belonging to ''Scield'', a Saxon ...
, 1875 *Cowley Place (now
St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 20 ...
): extension, 1877–78


Clergy houses

A number of the houses that Wilkinson designed were for clergy. Most were for the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
, but he also designed a presbytery that was built for the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. * Ramsden parsonage, 1862 *
Chadlington Chadlington is a village and civil parish in the Evenlode Valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. The village has five neighbourhoods: Brookend, Eastend, Greenend, Millend and Westend. Archaeology There is a bowl barrow about wes ...
parsonage, 1863 (now Chadlington House) *
Duns Tew Duns Tew is an English village and civil parish about south of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 478. With nearby Great Tew and Little Tew, Duns Tew is one of the three villages known collectively as ...
rectory, 1864 (now Priory Court) *
Godington Godington is a village and civil parish about northeast of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded on all but the west side by a brook called the Birne, which at this point forms also the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The paris ...
parsonage, 1867 (now the Old Vicarage) * Upper Heyford parsonage, 1869 *
Rousham Rousham is a village and civil parish beside the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire. The village is about west of Bicester and about north of Kidlington. The parish is bounded by the River Cherwell in the east, the A4260 main road between Oxfor ...
rectory: enlargement and remodelling, 1873. *St Aloysius' presbytery, Woodstock Road, Oxford, 1877–78 *
Combe A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through w ...
vicarage and Institute (with H.W. Moore), 1892–93


Educational establishments

Wilkinson designed the library for the
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
, built in 1863. He designed a number of schools, of which the largest was
St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...
, whose buildings he completed in phases from 1873 until 1886. His other schools include: * Hailey School, 1848 *
Minster Lovell Minster Lovell is a village and civil parish on the River Windrush about west of Witney in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,409. Minster Lovell village has three parts: Old Minster, Little Minster and New M ...
School, 1870–72 *Burford Elementary School, 1875–77 * Thame Grammar School, 1877–79 *Salesian College, Crescent Road, Cowley, 1880


Industrial buildings

Late in his career Wilkinson undertook one industrial commission: a new smith shop and foundry for William Lucy's Eagle Ironworks in
Jericho, Oxford Jericho is an historic suburb of the English city of Oxford. It consists of the streets bounded by the Oxford Canal, Worcester College, Walton Street and Walton Well Road. Located outside the old city wall, it was originally a place for tra ...
. This single-storey building was completed in 1879. It was demolished after Lucy ceased production in England in 2005.


Publications

*


See also

*
List of Oxford architects This list of Oxford architects includes architects and architectural practices that have designed buildings in the university city of Oxford, England. A * Ahrends, Burton and Koralek * ADAM Architecture * Adrian James Architects * Henry Aldri ...


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, William 1819 births 1901 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Oxfordshire English ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects