William Eden Nesfield (2 April 1835 – 25 March 1888) was an English architect. Like his some-time partner,

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

, he designed several houses in Britain in the revived 'Old English' and 'Queen Anne' styles during the 1860s and 1870s. He was also a designer and painter.

Biography

William Eden Nesfield was born in Bath on 2 April 1835, the eldest son of the landscape architect and painter

William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. In 1850 he was articled to the architect

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred ...

, but after two years he moved to the practice of his uncle by marriage,

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations. He restored castles and country h ...

. He studied architectural drawing under

James Kellaway Colling James Kellaway Colling (1816–1905) or J. K. Colling was an English architect, watercolour artist and noted book illustrator. He was a pioneer of early Chromolithographic printing and his graphic work has been compared with that of William ...

. He travelled widely in the 1850s, and published his drawings in ''Specimens of Mediaeval Architecture'' (1862), which was dedicated to

William Craven, 2nd Earl of Craven William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

. Around 1860 he started his own architectural practice; but he soon linked up with his friend

, with whom he was in a formal partnership between 1866 and 1869, though they kept their jobs separate. Nesfield and Shaw contributed greatly to the new styles of domestic architecture in Britain, which began in the 1860s and flourished in the 1870s, notably the Old English and Queen Anne styles. Many of Nesfield's clients were rich friends of his father's, and his designs tended to be more extravagant and ornamental than Shaw's. Notable examples were additions to Combe Abbey, Warwickshire (1862-5, mostly demolished); Cloverley Hall, Shropshire (1866–8, partly demolished);

Kinmel Hall Kinmel Hall is a large country mansion within Kimnel Park near the village of St. George, close to the coastal town of Abergele, in Conwy county borough, Wales. The hall, the third building on the site, was completed in the mid 19th century f ...

, Flintshire (1871–4) and Bodrhyddan (1872–4). He also designed many small lodges and cottages, most famously a lodge in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

(demolished), and another at

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

(1866–7), both in London. He also designed the Victoria Gate (1868), one of the main entrances into the Gardens, along with nearby Cumberland Gate. At

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

, Nesfield designed (1877) the church of St Nicholas, and was then commissioned (1878) to rebuild

Loughton Hall Loughton Hall is a large house in Rectory Lane, Loughton, Essex. The architect was William Eden Nesfield, and it is grade II listed with Historic England. It is now a 33-bedroom residential care home for elderly people. History The original Loug ...

, both for the Maitland family. In

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

, Nesfield largely rebuilt St Beuno's Church, Bettws Cedewain and redesigned

Maesmawr Hall Maesmawr Hall is a historic timber-framed house, situated to the southeast of Caersws, in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Montgomeryshire, which now forms part of Powys in Wales. It is currently run as a hotel. A long avenue ...

in 1876.Scourfield R. and Haslam R. (2013), ''The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire'', Yale University Press. pp 86 and 92-3 Nesfield gave up architectural practice around the time his father died in 1881, and retired to Brighton, where he died in 1888 at the age of 52. He is usually considered one of the most original of the Victorian domestic architects. He was not interested in publicity but preferred to pursue his career privately and enjoy himself with his bohemian friends, many of them artists.

References

Andrew Saint, 'William Eden Nesfield', in ''William Eden Nesfield's Letters to the Rector of Radwinter in Essex'', 1998, pp. 13–20.

External links

* http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/biog/Nesf_WE.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Nesfield, William Eden 1835 births 1888 deaths 19th-century English architects Artists' Rifles soldiers People educated at Eton College Architects from Bath, Somerset