Edwin Dolby was an English Victorian architect who practised in Abingdon. His works include the design of Abingdon School.

Career

According to census records Dolby was born in

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

, Nottinghamshire. By 1869 he working from 2 Bedwell Place, East St Helen Street, Abingdon, then in Berkshire. His known works span the period 1863–88. Dolby altered, rebuilt or restored a number of Anglican

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. Many of them were in the

Vale of White Horse The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway N ...

(then part of Berkshire) and Oxfordshire, but he also rebuilt two churches in Pembrokeshire. Drawings for one of the latter, at Castlebythe, were published in the ''Church Builder'' in 1867. In 1869–70 he built Abingdon School, described in ''The Builder'' as "of a simple character, the local material of red brick and tile being the chief material employed, relieved by bands of Bath stone". In 1877–78 Dolby worked with the architect H.J. Tollit 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 ...

, rebuilding the parish churches at Watlington and Crowell, both in Oxfordshire. After his partnership with Dolby, Tollit designed

Thame Town Hall Thame Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Thame, Oxfordshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Thame Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. History A moot hall, which was designed with arcading on t ...

in 1888, a building for

Littlemore Hospital Littlemore Hospital was a mental health facility on Sandford Road in Littlemore, Oxfordshire. History The hospital, which was designed by Robert Clarke using a Corridor Plan layout, opened as the Oxford County Pauper Lunatic Asylum in August 1846 ...

in 1902 and a factory for

Morris Motors Morris Motors Limited was a British privately owned motor vehicle manufacturing company formed in 1919 to take over the assets of William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield, William Morris's WRM Motors Limited and continue production of the same veh ...

in Longwall Street,

in 1910.

Work

*Eagles Close Almshouses,

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

, 1867. *Claydon House,

Claydon, Oxfordshire Claydon is a village in Claydon with Clattercot civil parish, about north of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The village is about above sea level on a hill of Early Jurassic Middle Lias clay. The village is the northernmost settlement in Oxfordshir ...

: alterations, 1867. *St Peter's parish church, Headley, Hampshire, 1867–68. *Abingdon Grammar School, Abingdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), 1869–70. *St John the Baptist's church,

Lynmouth Lynmouth is a village in Devon, England, on the northern edge of Exmoor. The village straddles the confluence of the West Lyn and East Lyn rivers, in a gorge below Lynton, which was the only place to expand to once Lynmouth became as bu ...

, Devon, 1871. *St Michael's parish Church, Castlebythe, Pembrokeshire: rebuilding, 1875 (demolished). *St David's parish Church, Llanychaer, Pembrokeshire: rebuilding, 1876 *St Giles' parish church, Medbourne, Leicestershire, chancel, 1876. *St Leonard's parish church, Watlington, Oxfordshire: rebuilding (with H.J. Tollit), 1877. *St Mary's parish church, Crowell, Oxfordshire: rebuilding (with H.J. Tollit), 1878. *St. Michael's parish church, Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire: restoration including complete rebuilding of the chancel and porch, 1878. *St Peter's parish church, Drayton, Cherwell: restoration and new vestry, 1878. *St Peter's parish church,

Drayton, Vale of White Horse Drayton is a village and civil parish about south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton Wick. The 2011 Census recorded the ...

: south porch, 1879. *St Nicolas' parish church, Abingdon: restoration, 1880. *St Luke's parish church, Garford, Oxfordshire: rebuilding, 1880. *Abingdon School, Abingdon, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire): extension and bell turret, 1880. *St Edmund's parish church, Swanton Novers, Norfolk: north aisle and chancel, 1881. *St John the Baptist parish church,

Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, England, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the ...

, Oxfordshire: added apse and made alterations, 1882. *Mortuary Chapel at Hatfield Cemetery,

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, Yorkshire, 1883. Dolby was also one of the architects of the Albert Park housing estate in Abingdon, along with Dolby's pupil John George Timothy West (1860–1931) and his son Archibald Buller West (1885–1957).

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolby, Edwin 1838 births 1900 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Berkshire English ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects People from Sutton Bonington