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Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Born c.1661 Nottinghamshire 25 March 1736 Millbank, London
Died
Nationality English Buildings Easton Neston Mausoleum Castle Howard Christ Church, Spitalfields St. George's, Bloomsbury St Mary Woolnoth St George in the East St Anne's Limehouse St Alfege Church, Greenwich All Souls College, Oxford The Queen's College, Oxford
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 25 March 1736) was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton or Ragnall.[1]
Life
Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton or Ragnall, Nottinghamshire.[1] On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a house and land at Great Drayton. It is not known where he received his schooling, but it was probably in more than basic literacy. George Vertue, whose family had property in Hawksmoor's part of Nottingham shire, wrote in 1731 that he was taken as a youth to act as clerk by 'Justice Mellust in Yorkshire, where Mr Gouge senior did some fretwork ceilings afterwards Mr. Haukesmore [sic] came to London, became clerk to Sr. Christopher Wren & thence became an Architect'.[1] Wren who hearing of his 'early skill and genius' for architecture, took him as his clerk at about the age of 18. His early drawings in a sketch-book, containing sketches and notes some dated 1680 and 1683, of buildings in Nottingham, Coventry, Warwick, Bath, Bristol, Oxford and Northampton.[2] His somewhat amateur drawings, now in the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings Collection, shows that he was still learning the techniques of his new profession at the age of 22. His first official post was as Deputy Surveyor to Wren at the Winchester Palace from 1683 until February 1685.[1] Hawksmoor's signature appears on a brickmaker's contract for Winchester Palace in November 1684.[2] Wren was paying him 2 shillings a day in 1685 as assistant in his office in Whitehall.[2] From about 1684 to about 1700, Hawksmoor worked with Christopher Wren on projects including Chelsea Hospital, St. Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace and Greenwich Hospital. Thanks to Wren's influence as Surveyor-General, Hawksmoor was named Clerk of the Works at Kensington Palace (1689) and Deputy Surveyor of Works at Greenwich (1705). In 1718, when Wren was superseded by the new, amateur Surveyor, William Benson, Hawksmoor was deprived of his double post to provide places for Benson's brother. "Poor Hawksmoor," wrote Vanbrugh in 1721. "What a Barbarous Age have his fine, ingenious Parts fallen into. What wou'd Monsr: Colbert in France have given for such a man?"[3] Only in 1726 after William Benson's successor Hewett died, Hawksmoor was restored to secretaryship, though not the Clerkship of the works - this post was given to Filtcroft. In 1696, Hawksmoor was appointed surveyor to the Commissioners of Sewers for Westminster, but was dismissed in 1700, '
Nicholas Hawksmoor having neglected' to attend the Court several days last past'. He then worked for a time with Sir John Vanbrugh, helping him build Blenheim Palace for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, where he took charge from 1705, after Vanbrugh's final break with the demanding Duchess of Marlborough, and Castle Howard for Charles Howard, later the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. In July 1721 John Vanbrugh made Hawksmoor his deputy as Comptroller of the Works. There is no doubt that Hawksmoor brought to the brilliant amateur the professional grounding he had received from Wren, but it is also arguable that Wren's architectural development was from the persuasion of his formal pupil, Hawksmoor. By 1700, Hawksmoor emerged with a major architectural personality, and in the next 20 years he proved himself to be one of the great masters of the English Baroque. His baroque, but somewhat classical and gothic architectural form was derived from his exploration of Antiquity, the Renaissance, the English Middle Ages and contemporary Italian baroque. Unlike many of his wealthier contemporaries, Hawksmoor never travelled to Italy on a Grand Tour, where he might have been influenced by the style of architecture there. Instead he studied engravings especially monuments of ancient Rome and reconstructions of the Temple of Solomon. In 1702, Hawksmoor designed the baroque country house of Easton Neston in Northamptonshire for Sir William Fermor. This is the only country house for which he was the sole architect, though he extensively remodelled Ockham House, now mostly destroyed, for the Lord Chief Justice King). Easton Neston was not completed as he intended, the symmetrical flanking wings and entrance colonnade, very much in the style of John Vanbrugh, remaining unexecuted. As he neared the age of 50, his creativeness was received by two universities, Oxford and Cambridge. In 1713, Hawksmoor was commissioned to complete King's College, Cambridge:[4] the scheme consisted of a Fellows' Building along King's Parade, and opposite the Chapel a monumental range of buildings containing the Great Hall, kitchens and to the south of that the library and Provost's Lodge. Wooden models and plans of the scheme survive, but it proved too expensive and Hawksmoor produced a second scaled down design. But the college that had invested heavily in the South Sea Company lost their money when the 'bubble' burst in 1720. The result was that Hawksmoor's scheme would never be executed, the college was finished later in the 18th century by James Gibbs and early in the 19th century by William Wilkins. In 1690s, Hawksmoor gave proposals for the library of the Queen's College, Oxford. However like many of his proposals for both universities, such as All Souls College, The Radcliffe Library, Brasenose College, Magdalen College Oxford, was not executed. After the death of Wren in 1723, Hawksmoor was appointed Surveyor to Westminster Abbey. This post received 100 pounds voted by Parliament for the repair and completion of the Abbey in 1698. The west towers of the Abbey were designed by Hawksmoor but was not completed until after his death.
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Hawksmoor conceived grand rebuilding schemes for central Oxford, most of which were not realised. The idea was for a round library for the Radcliffe Camera but that commission went to James Gibbs. He did design the Clarendon Building at Oxford; the Codrington Library and new buildings at All Souls College, Oxford; parts of Worcester College, Oxford with Sir George Clarke; the High Street screen at The Queen's College, Oxford and six new churches in London.
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Gallery of churches
St Alphege's Greenwich (171218), the west front, the upper part of the tower is by John James (1730)
Nicholas Hawksmoor
St. George in the East (171429), the interior looking east, as rebuilt after being bombed in 1941 in the London Blitz
St. Luke's Old Street (172733), joint work with John James, tower by Hawksmoor
St. John's Horsleydown (172733), joint work with John James, tower by Hawksmoor, bombed in London Blitz then demolished
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (sic), not to mention many others: But one of the most surprising of his undertakings, was the repairing of Beverley Minster, where the stone wall on the north-side was near three Foot out of the perpendicular, which he mov'd at once to its upright by means of a machine of his own invention. In short his numerous Publick Works at Oxford, perfected in his lifetime, and the design and model of Dr. Ratcliff's Library there, his design of a new Parliament-House, after the thought of Sir Christopher Wren; and, to mention no more, his noble Design for repairing the West-End of Westminster-Abbey, will all stand monuments to his great capacity, inexhaustible fancy, and solid judgement. He was perfectly skill'd in the History of Architecture, and could give exact account of all the famous buildings, both Antient (sic) and Modern, in every part of the world; to which his excellent memory, that never fail'd him to the very last, greatly contributed. Nor was architecture the only science he was master of. He was bred a scholar. and knew as well the learned as the modern tongues. He was a very skilful mathematician, geographer, and geometrician; and in drawing, which he practised to the last, though greatly afflicted with Chiragra, few excelled him. In his private life he was a tender husband, a loving father, a sincere friend, and a most agreeable companion; nor could the most poignant pains of Gout, which he for many years laboured under, ever ruffle or discompose his evenness of temper. And as his memory must always be dear to his Country, so the loss of so great and valuable man in sensibly, and in a more particular manner felt by those who had the pleasure of his personal acquaintance, and enjoy'd the happiness of his conversation. Upon his death he left a widow, to whom he bequested all his property in Westminster, Highgate, Shenley, and East Drayton,who later married William Theaker; gradchild of this second marriage ultimately inherited Hawksmoor's properties near Drayton after the death of the architect's widow. Hawksmoor's only child was a daughter, Elizabeth,
Easton Neston House (c.1695-1710), Northamptonshire, only the central block minus the dome was actually built
Nicholas Hawksmoor
All Souls College (171634), Oxford , from the entrance gate looking east
Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Dyer, while the eponymous Hawksmoor is a twentieth-century detective charged with investigating a series of murders perpertrated on Dyer's (Hawksmoor's) churches. Both Sinclair and Ackroyd's ideas in turn were further developed by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell in their graphic novel, From Hell, which speculated that Jack the Ripper used Hawksmoor's buildings as part of ritual magic, with his victims as human sacrifice. In the appendix, Moore revealed that he had met and spoke with Sinclair on numerous occasions while developing the core ideas of the book. The argument includes the idea that the locations of the churches form a pentagram with ritual significance. Hawksmoor is mentioned in "The History Boys" by Alan Bennett, p82, where Akthar is questioned by Mrs Lintott about his interest in architecture.
Memorials
There is a school in Towcester, Northamptonshire named Nicholas Hawksmoor Primary School for the architect.
References
[1] Downes 1979, p.1 [2] [3] [4] [5] Downes 1979, p.2 Downes 1979, p.98 Doig 1979, pp.23 to 27 "St Anne, Limehouse" (http:/ / www. aim25. ac. uk/ cgi-bin/ vcdf/ detail?coll_id=15258& inst_id=118& nv1=search& nv2=). AIM25. . Retrieved 8 February 2012. [6] Downes 1970, p.103 [7] Curl 1980, p.179 [8] Hart 2002, p.122 [9] Barnes 2004, p.18 [10] Downes 1979, p.6 [11] Downes 1979, p.7
Sources
Barnes, Richard (2004). The Obelisk: A Monumental Feature in Britain. Frontier Publishing. Colvin, Howard. Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 16001840 (3rd ed.). Curl, James Stevens (1980). A Celebration of Death: An Introduction to some of the Buildings, Monuments and Settings of Funeray Architecture in the Western European tradition. Constable. Doig, Allan (1979). The Architectural Drawings Collection of King's College, Cambridge. Avebury Publishing. Downes, Kerry (1970). Hawksmoor. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN0-500-20096-3. Downes, Kerry (1979). Hawksmoor. A. Zwemmer Ltd. ISBN0-302-02783-1. De la Ruffiniere du Prey, Pierre (2000). Hawksmoor's London Churches: Architecture and Theology. London and Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Goodhart-Rendel, H.S. (1924). Nicholas Hawksmoor. London: Benn. Masters of Architecture series Hart, Vaughan (2002). Nicholas Hawksmoor: Rebuilding Ancient Wonders. Yale University Press. Exhibition catalogues Downes, Kerry (1977). Hawksmoor. An exhibition selected by Kerry Downes. London: Whitechapel Art Gallery. The Hawksmoor Committee (1962). Hawksmoor. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. Journals "Hawksmoor's Christ Church Spitalfields". Architectural Design 49 (7). 1979. A.D. Profile 22
Nicholas Hawksmoor
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External links
A Timeline of Hawksmoor's life (http://christchurchspitalfields.org/v2/hawksmoor/timeline/timeline.shtml) Hawksmoor's Bloomsbury church (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1880284,00.html) Google map showing where Hawksmoor's London churches are (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=115784177921406587387.000467888d024b2f85482&ll=51.511948,-0. 069351&spn=0.104056,0.219727&z=12) Christ Church Spitalfields (http://www.ccspitalfields.org) Archival material relating to Nicholas Hawksmoor (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/searches/ subjectView.asp?ID=P13368) listed at the UK National Archives Portraits of Nicholas Hawksmoor (http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp06292) at the National Portrait Gallery, London Images relating to Nicholas Hawksmoor (http://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/Search.aspx?s=Nicholas Hawksmoor) at the Country Life Picture Library (http://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/) Images relating to Nicholas Hawksmoor (http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/results. aspx?index=0&mainQuery=Nicholas Hawksmoor&searchType=all&form=basic&theme=&county=& district=&placeName=) at the National Monuments Record, English Heritage
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License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/