Cuthbert Brodrick
FRIBA (1 December 1821 – 2 March 1905) was a British
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
, whose most famous building is
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
.
Early life
Brodrick was born in the Yorkshire port of
Hull where his father was a well-to-do merchant and shipowner. He was the sixth son of ten children of John and Hannah Brodrick. The family lived at 39 George Street in the best residential area of Hull.
Education and training
Brodrick attended Kingston College in Hull and, on leaving school, he became an articled pupil in the architectural practice of
Henry Francis Lockwood whose premises were at 8 Dock Street. Brodrick remained at Lockwoods from 1837 until May 1844 when he embarked on the
Grand Tour to continue his studies. He travelled through France to
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
in Italy. Whilst on the tour, he studied architecture in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
; it influenced his later designs.
When Brodrick returned to Hull in 1846, he was offered a partnership in Lockwood's firm. He refused this, and set up in practice on his own at 1, Savile Street in Hull. He designed a number of buildings within the town. On leaving practice in 1870, he was succeeded in the business by his nephew
Frederick Stead Brodrick.
Leeds

In 1852, aged 29, Brodrick entered and won a competition for the design of
Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
. The competition was judged by
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...
. The town hall was opened in September 1858 by
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
. Brodrick moved to an office at 30 Park Row, Leeds and acquired the nickname 'Town Hall, Leeds'.
[
Brodrick's only church was ]Headingley
Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...
Congregational Church on Headingley Lane.
Notable buildings
Leeds
* Leeds Town Hall
Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow (formerly Park Lane), Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built be ...
, 1858
* Leeds Corn Exchange, 1860
* The Mechanics' Institute, 1860 (later Civic Theatre and now Leeds City Museum
Leeds City Museum, established in 1819, is a museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Since 2008 it has been housed in the former Mechanics' institute, Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Squar ...
)
* The Oriental Baths in Cookridge Street, 1866 (demolished)
* King Street Warehouses, 1862 (demolished)[
* Headingley Hill Congregational Church, 1864 (As of 2021 the building was out of use, with unused planning permission for flats)]
* Moorland Terrace, 1859 (demolished)[
* 9 Alma Road, 1859]
* 49–51 Cookridge Street, 1864[
File:Leeds Rathaus.jpg, Leeds Town Hall
File:Leeds Corn Exchange.jpg, Leeds Corn Exchange
File:Leeds City Museum (11th July 2012) 003.JPG, Leeds City Mechanics' Institute, now ]Leeds City Museum
Leeds City Museum, established in 1819, is a museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Since 2008 it has been housed in the former Mechanics' institute, Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Squar ...
File:Brodrick Building Leeds.JPG, The Brodrick Building, Cookridge St, Leeds
File:Brodrick Plaques Leeds.jpg, Plaques on the Brodrick Building
Hull
Brodrick designed a number of buildings in Hull, including the Royal Institution building in 1852 (which was destroyed in the Hull Blitz in 1941), and the Renaissance-style Town Hall in 1866, which was demolished in 1905 to make way for the present Guildhall
A guildhall, also known as a guild hall or guild house, is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Europe, with many surviving today in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commo ...
. Since the demolition of Wellington House, in the Fruit Market area of the city, in 2014, no significant buildings by Brodrick survive in Hull. However, just north of Hull in Beverley, his 37 & 39 North Bar Within (previously Yorkshire Water Authority and 'Pizza Express' in 2015) still stands.
Elsewhere
Brodrick designed the Grand Hotel in Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...
. Completed in 1867, it was one of the largest hotels in the world.
Brodrick designed Yokefleet Hall, Yorkshire which commenced building in 1868. Many properties in Yokefleet were built around the time and in style of the house, including two lodges, east and west of the hall.
Brodrick designed Wells House which opened in 1856 as a Hydro, offering water treatments and pure air.
Personal life
In 1870, Brodrick moved to France where in 1876 he bought a house at Le Vésinet
Le Vésinet () is a suburban Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of western Paris, from ...
, St. Germain-en-Laye. He retired in 1875, and spent his time painting, exhibiting his work and gardening. In about 1898 he went to live with his niece in Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
, where he rented a house, La Colline, at Gorey
Gorey () is a market town in north County Wexford, Ireland. It is bypassed by the main N11 road (Ireland), M11 Dublin to Wexford road. The town is also connected to the Gorey railway station, railway network along the same route. Local newspape ...
. Whilst living there he designed, and planted a garden. He died in Jersey on 2 March 1905, and is buried in St Martin's Churchyard.
Legacy
Among Brodrick's pupils was Joseph Wright.
A Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim ...
public house, the 'Cuthbert Brodrick', opened on 22 October 2007 on Millennium Square Millennium Square may refer to:
*Millennium Square, Bristol
*Millennium Square, Leeds
*Millennium Square, Sheffield
{{dab ...
in Leeds opposite one of the buildings he designed (the Leeds City Museum) and not far from another (Leeds Town Hall). It is near the site on Cookridge Street of the Oriental Baths which he also designed; they were built in 1866 and demolished in 1969.
Brodrick was the subject of a 2007 BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
television programme, ''The Case of the Disappearing Architect'', by Jonathan Meades
Jonathan Turner Meades (born 21 January 1947) is an English writer and film-maker. His work spans journalism, fiction, essays, memoir and over fifty television films, many for the BBC.
He has described himself as a "cardinal of atheism" and i ...
.
Cuthbert Brodrick is commemorated on four blue plaques, on Leeds Town Hall, Brodrick's Building, Wells House and Leeds Corn Exchange.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodrick, Cuthbert
1821 births
1905 deaths
19th-century English architects
Architects from Kingston upon Hull
English emigrants to France
Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
British neoclassical architects
Architects from Yorkshire
Leeds Blue Plaques