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W Wailes Wailes and Strang
William Wailes (1808-81) was born in Northumberland and established a firm in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which developed to a considerable size and supplied glass, by various designers, to churches all over England; for a few years from 1841 he was A W Pugin’s preferred maker. Wailes, by origin a grocer and also a landscape painter, was interested mainly in the business side. In the 1850s the expanding business supplied architects like W Butterfield, J L Pearson and H Woodyer (see below). Its designs continued firmly gothic after Wailes in 1861 went into partnership with his son-in-law Thomas Strang (1835-99), also primarily a businessman, who took over the firm after Wailes died and was in turn followed by his son William (b1867) until it closed in 1914.
Glass: Arundel (attr); Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Church Road, Hove; Chichester, - St Peter the Great; Ditchling (replaced); Hartfield; Horsham, - St Mary; Iford; Lewes, - St Thomas; Lindfield; Litlington; Lower Beeding; Nuthurst; Piddinghoe; Rodmell; Seaford; Telscombe (attr)
Wainwright and Waring
This company can be traced at several addresses in West and South London between 1908 and 1965, when they were at 14 Mortlake High Street. Their main business was metal windows, but they also made stained glass. Among the designers was A Acket (AA).
Glass: Haywards Heath, - St Wilfrid (AA)
A S Walker
Arthur S Walker (1891-1966) trained in glassmaking with Burlison and Grylls and became chief designer for G Maile and Son. In 1934 he lived in Harrow on the Hill, but died in Canada shortly after marrying a Canadian wife.
Glass: Crawley, - St Peter; Crawley Down
K Walker
Katie Walker designs and makes furniture at her studio in Warnham.
Fittings: Arundel, altar and other fittings
L Walker
Leonard Walker (1877-1964) was born in Ealing and had studios in Hampstead and the King’s Road, though most of his glass was made by J Powell and Co. He was also an accomplished water-colourist. His later work used slab glass, thick and uneven, and his heavy leading and restricted painted detail reveal Expressionist influence. He taught at St John’s Wood School of Art, near where he lived, and belonged to the Art Workers Guild.
Lit: NAL Information file
Glass: Burpham
J B Wall
Joseph Barker Daniel Wall (1849-1923) was a pupil and later assistant of John Whichcord, before practising in New Cross, London; later he was in Walbrook in the City and applied from there to become FRIBA. He worked in Devon in his youth, but from 1887 lived in Bexhill, where he worked as architect and surveyor on the development of the town.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Bexhill, - St Andrew (1900)
McL Wallace
McLeod Wallace is on record as an architect in Chichester in 1956 at 65 The Pallant and he worked at West Itchenor church in both 1950 and 1959. There is no other reference to him in the records, although he was ARIBA.
Altered: West Itchenor (1950 and 1959)
S Wallis
Sue Wallis lives currently in Worthing, where she is involved in educational projects.
Glass: Old Shoreham
A L Ward
Arthur L Ward can be traced in the records between 1913 and 1936 with an address at 117 Ladbroke Grove, London. In the mid-1930s he produced glass for A R Mowbray.
Glass: Herstmonceux; Slinfold; Worthing, - St Symphorian, Durrington
E Ward
Edward Matthew Ward (1815-79) was born in London to a family of artists, though his father was a banker. He studied privately and at the RA Schools, where he was a protégé of Sir F Chantrey and Sir David Wilkie. He spent nearly four years in Rome and returned via Munich, where his interest in wall paintings was aroused – he painted several in the new Palace of Westminster. He was quickly successful as a history painter in the conventional idiom of the time with a weakness for subjects taken from the C17, and was elected an Associate of the RA and subsequently an RA. He committed suicide at his house in Windsor.
Lit: J Dafforne: The Life and Works of Edward Matthew Ward, 1879; DNB
Restored: Battle, wall paintings
H Ward H Ward and Son
Henry Ward (1854-1927) was a Londoner who studied in Paris. For the sake of his health, he moved to Hastings, where he designed the Town Hall in 1880 and was by 1881 Borough Surveyor (BN 41 p343). In private practice, he worked with W L Vernon on mainly public and commercial buildings. The firm still existed as Henry Ward, Son and Ray in 1938 (KD) and as Henry Ward and Son in 1950.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Bexhill, - St Stephen (1898-1900)
Restored/altered: Hastings, - Christ Church, Ore (1950 as - HW and Son); - Holy Trinity (1906)
Ward and Hughes Curtis, Ward and Hughes Ward and Nixon T Ward
Thomas Ward (1808-70) (TW) was a Yorkshireman who in c1836 became a partner of James Henry Nixon (1802-57); they worked for A W Pugin. Previously Nixon was a partner in Hancock, Nixon and Hunt, of whom little is known. Nixon retired about 1850, but only in 1857 did Ward take a new partner, H Hughes (HH). Much of the firm’s earlier work, though well received at the time, has been replaced. Hughes, like Nixon before him, also worked for himself and the partnership with Ward may have been interrupted. In 1883 T F Curtis, a relation of H Hughes took the company over, calling it Curtis, Ward and Hughes. Among the designers he employed was G Parlby (GP).
Glass: Angmering (Ward and Nixon); Billingshurst; Brighton and Hove, - St Barnabas, Hove; - Good Shepherd; - St John the Baptist, Palmeira Square, Hove; - St John, Preston; - Holy Trinity, Blatchington Road, Hove; Burwash (TW only); Coolhurst (altered later); Crawley, - St Margaret, Ifield, - St Peter; Cuckfield; Duncton; East Lavant; Etchingham; Funtington (HH only); Hartfield; Hellingly; Iping; Lancing, - St James; Littlehampton, - St Mary (formerly?); Midhurst (TW only - formerly); Portslade, - St Andrew; Rotherfield (GP – attr); Rudgwick (HH only); Rustington; Slinfold (HH only, possibly no longer extant); Sompting (HH only and both); Streat; Wadhurst (TW only); Wisborough Green (HH only); Worthing, - Christ Church
E P Warren
Edward Prioleau Warren (1856-1937) was a pupil of Bodley and Garner. He started his practice in 1885 and wrote a memoir of Bodley after he died. He was competent in the classical and gothic styles and designed houses, as well as working extensively at Oxford, where his brother was president of Magdalen College, and Cambridge. He was Consulting Architect to the ICBS and Master of the Art Workers Guild.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Good Shepherd (1921-22 and 1927)
Restored: West Grinstead (1890)
J C T Warren
John Cecil Turnbull Warren became a member of the RIBA in 1959 and in 1964 was a founder-member of Architectural and Planning Partnership of London, Horsham and Brighton, and remained a partner until he moved to Yorkshire in about 1990. The two restorations below may have involved others in the partnership. He has a long-standing interest in conservation both at home and abroad, about which he has written. For 20 years he was architect to the Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton and the museum at Amberley.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Horsham, - St Mark (new) (1988-90)
Restored: Compton (1975); Up Marden (1975-77)
W Warrington Warrington and Co
William Warrington (1796-1869) was born in New Romney, Kent and it is possible that his father was a glazier. He became a pupil of T Willement (see below) and worked for A W Pugin in the late 1830s, though they subsequently quarrelled. His early glass was pictorial, but from the 1840s he used the Italian and gothic styles, though his gothic glass was criticised for the drawing, garish colours and failure to follow mediaeval examples. In 1848 his History of Stained Glass aroused the enduring wrath of The Ecclesiologist. Though his style developed little, his firm outlived him until at least 1894 under his son, James Perry Warrington (b1832).
Lit: A List of some of the Principal Works, nd [1860s?] (NAL Special Collections 86.BB.27); DNB
Glass: Bishopstone; Brede; Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Church Road, Hove; Linchmere; Lindfield; Peasmarsh (formerly and attr); Salehurst; Tortington (attr); Westbourne
D Wasley
David Wasley (b1949), who is also a painter, trained at the Royal College of Art and then worked for P Reyntiens as a glassmaker. He also made some windows to the design of J Piper (JP). He lives and works in Buckinghamshire.
Glass: Climping; West Firle (JP)
J K Wearing
For John K Wearing, see under J L Denman.
Sir A Webb
Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930) was a pupil of R R Banks and C Barry junior until he went into independent practice in 1873. He was rapidly successful, particularly in competitions for large public projects. In a prolific career, these included the replanning of The Mall and Buckingham Palace and also the Victoria and Albert Museum. He rose to be President of both the RA and RIBA and was particularly admired for the planning of his buildings, for the elevations were sometimes criticised for their ponderousness. In the words of his obituary in The Times, he was ‘almost too successful’, with a large and necessarily rather anonymous office. In Sussex he and his first partner Ingress Bell (1837-1914) were responsible for the new Christ’s Hospital outside Horsham. His relatively few churches are in the simplified gothic of his era and, unexpectedly in the light of Webb’s other work, show the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement. In his final years he went into partnership with his son Maurice, but withdrew from public life after a road accident.
Lit: BAL Biog file; Obits: The Times 22 Aug 1930; RIBAJ 37 pp710-11; DNB
Restored/extended: Easebourne (1912); Turners Hill (1923); Westfield (1889)
Fitting: Hastings, - St Matthew, Silverhill, reredos (1900)
C Webb
Christopher Rahere Webb (1886-1966) and his brother G Webb (see below) were nephews of Sir A Webb (see immediately above). After training at the Slade School he decided to become a glass painter and turned to Sir J N Comper. His first studio was at Guildford with W H R Blacking, also a Comper pupil, with whom he collaborated closely. Webb lived first in East Grinstead and then in St Albans. Like Comper and Blacking, he was influenced by classical and Renaissance examples, especially in the fittings he made.
Lit: E Roberts: Christopher Webb and Orchard House Studio, JSG 25 (2001) pp79-94
Fittings: Littlehampton, - St Mary; Worthing, St John
Glass: Aldingbourne; Brighton and Hove, - St Andrew, Waterloo Street; Coolhurst (altered existing glass); Eastbourne, - St Mary, Willingdon; - St Saviour; Felpham; Fishbourne; Forest Row; Framfield; Icklesham; Isfield; Jarvis Brook; Mayfield; Midhurst; Pevensey; Rye; Selsey, - St Wilfrid; West Itchenor; Worthing, - St John, West Worthing
G Webb
Geoffrey Fuller Webb (1879-1954) was the older brother of C Webb (see immediately above) He trained under C E Kempe and Sir J N Comper and was briefly a partner of H Bryans. He restored old glass and much of his own work is heraldic. He lived at East Grinstead.
Glass: Cowfold; East Grinstead, - St Mary; Henfield; Lindfield; Scaynes Hill
Statue: Mayfield
P Webb
Philip Speakman Webb (1831-1915) trained as an architect under J Billing and then G E Street, whose chief assistant he became before starting his own practice in 1856. He met W Morris (for whom he designed the Red House) in Oxford in Street’s office and was involved in Morris and Co from its foundation in 1861. He designed glass and other artefacts for the company, but is today best remembered for his houses in the Arts and Crafts idiom. One of the finest of these is Standen, on the edge of East Grinstead.
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Michael
J Webber G Taylor
James Webber (1803/08-after 1841) and George Taylor (1808/13- after 1841) were described as architects when working at Warnham, but were in fact carpenters, first in Carfax, Horsham (Pigot's Directory, 1832) and later in East Street (ibid, 1840). Both are listed in 1841, but not in 1851, though a James Webber died in Horsham in 1856. In 1851 there is only Harriet Taylor, described as a widow on parish relief, and a daughter.
Renovated: Warnham (1828-32)
J Wells-Thorpe Wells-Thorpe and Partners
John Arthur Wells-Thorpe (b1928) is a Brighton architect, who trained at Brighton Polytechnic. He has designed a number of churches in Sussex, as well as a new civic centre in Hove. In more recent years he has been primarily involved in the design of hospitals and their running, though he designed a hall for a Roman Catholic church in Horsham as recently as 1994. His practice was renamed in about 1972, having previously been Gotch and Partners, and by 1985 was known as Wells-Thorpe and Suppel. The firm has done work in Asia and Africa and Wells-Thorpe became President of the Commonwealth Association of Architects.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Ascension, Westdean (1958); - Holy Cross, Woodingdean (1968); Resurrection, Woodingdean, (1958-59 as Gotch and Partners (now St Patrick RC church)); Chichester, - St Wilfrid, Parklands (1973)
Repaired: Pyecombe (1970-72 - initially as Gotch and Partners)
W West
William West is described as an architect of Haslemere, Surrey in the sole reference to him as restorer of Lurgashall in 1870. However, no one of the name is listed as architect, surveyor or builder in contemporary editions of Kelly’s Directories for Surrey.
Restored: Lurgashall (1866-70)
N Westlake
Nathaniel John Hubert Westlake (1833-1921) was born at Romsey. He started in publishing, but his study of mediaeval art led to commissions from W Burges and others as a decorative painter. Though he continued to work on his own, he joined Lavers and Barraud as chief designer in 1858 and eventually acquired and renamed the company. He wrote a four-volume History of Design in Painted Glass.
See under Lavers and Barraud for the works carried under his auspices.
Advised: Westbourne (assisted the Rev J H Sperling)
J S Westmacott
James Sherwood Westmacott (1823-1900) was the son of a sculptor, Henry, and the brother of another, Sir R Westmacott (see immediately below). James studied in Edinburgh and Germany and exhibited for 40 years at the RA, showing mainly busts and other statues. He lived in Whetstone, Middlesex, before moving by 1891 to Clapham, and he died at Chesterfield.
Memorial: Fairlight
Sir R Westmacott
Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856) studied under his father and then in Rome, where he met Canova, a major influence though recent research suggests he was not a pupil. On return in 1797 his mainly neoclassical training was widely regarded with suspicion, but he was successful and prolific and became an RA in 1811. His work was of uneven standard; particularly his smaller monuments would have been largely by assistants, though he was more closely involved with his public memorials in Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s to political, military and naval leaders for which he was known. He also worked on Buckingham Palace and the British Museum and his best known work is the colossal Achilles in Hyde Park. He retired in the mid-1830s and his reputation subsequently declined, especially by comparison with his most eminent contemporaries, Sir F Chantrey and J Flaxman.
Lit: M Busco: Sir Richard Westmacott, Sculptor, Cambridge, 1994
Memorials: Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas; Buxted; Cuckfield; Framfield; Harting; Horsham, - St Mary; Pett (attr); Petworth; Ringmer (attr); Shermanbury; Slindon; Storrington
H Weston
Hugh Weston (b1870) described himself as a decorative artist in 1901. He was the son of James Weston (born at Southborough, Kent in 1840/41), who was a carpenter and decorator at 1 Priory Street, Hastings and is in KD from 1889 to 1915. Although Hugh Weston was only 18 when he worked with H Tickner in 1888 on the decoration of St Mary in the castle, he can be accepted as co-author of the work. This is because in 1901, when he was married and had his own household, Tickner was a boarder there, though even younger than Weston, thereby demonstrating the length of their association.
Decorated: Hastings, - St Mary in the Castle, altar space decorations
C Whall
Christopher Whitworth Whall (1849-1924) was the son of a Northamptonshire rector and trained at the RA Schools as a painter. He travelled in Italy, where Botticelli’s paintings were a major influence. He became a Catholic and back in London took up stained glass. He made designs for other manufacturers and in 1885 settled for ten years in a Surrey cottage where, increasingly under the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, he interested himself in the manufacture as well as the design of stained glass, though he produced a design for J Powell and Son as late as 1894. He was the most influential stained glass artist of his time, although his use of detail, including skilful leading, is superior to his overall designs. A circle of pupils and followers formed round him, especially after his return to London in 1895, when he taught at the Royal College of Art and made his glass at Lowndes and Drury. He opened his own workshop in 1907 in partnership with his daughter Veronica (see immediately below) in a studio adapted for him by his friend C S Spooner. He also helped to found a department in Dublin for teaching the making of stained glass.
Lit: William Morris Gallery (P Cormack): Christopher Whall, 1849-1924, Enfield, 1999; P Cormack: The Stained Glass of Christopher Whall, Boston, Mass, 1999
Glass: Lindfield; Milland; Racton; Steyning; Ticehurst (for J Powell and Co)
V Whall
Veronica Whall (1887-1967) was the daughter of Christopher Whall (see immediately above) and was born while he lived near Dorking. After returning to London, she worked with him and the studio-manager, E Woore. She and her father were directors of Whall and Whall Ltd and after his death, helped by her brother, another Christopher, she kept the studio going until her retirement in 1953. She wrote and illustrated at least one children’s book.
Glass: Amberley; Compton; Westfield
F Wheeler
Frederick Wheeler (1853-1931) was a pupil of C H Driver and practised in London from 1876. In 1895 he was at 22 Chancery Lane, London but had also been in practice in Horsham since 1891 at the latest. Most of his work is in London, including the remarkable St Paul’s Studios in West Kensington. In 1899 (KD) his partner was Percy Dean Lodge (who may have worked at Horsham only). From 1903, when this partnership was dissolved, until 1907 he was alone and then from 1907 to 1921 C R B Godman joined him and also his son, C W F Wheeler. Father and son remained partners after 1921 in London only.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Littlehampton, - St James (1908-10 - with Godman)
Altered/extended: Southwater (1909-10 - with Godman)
G Wheeler
Gervase Wheeler (1824/25-89) was born in St Pancras, London and was a pupil of R C Carpenter, before working with A W Pugin and the Cambridge Camden Society. He then spent 20 years in the USA, but kept in touch with architecture in Britain. He returned in 1865, and practised in London and Margate, where in 1867 (KD/Kent) he was at 16 Hawley Street. His work was mundane, eg additions to a school in Margate in 1866 (B 224 p674) and he lived mainly in Kilburn until at least 1872 (Proc RIBA). Initially, he had some success and he became FRIBA in 1867. His field of interest was housing – he wrote a book in the USA and another in 1872, The Choice of a Dwelling. He was asked to return for a fuller discussion of a paper on American domestic architecture he gave to the RIBA (Proc RIBA), but soon afterwards he was rebuked for allowing his name to be advertised and his membership lapsed in 1872. The entry on him in the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects assumes he died shortly afterwards, but in fact he moved with his large family to Hove. In 1874 and 1878 he was there with an office at 1 Church Road (KD). It is likely that he retired, keeping a modest practice for a while – in 1883 he gave his home address only in a list of architects that otherwise gave professional addresses (BA 19 2 February 1883 p I). He moved several times within Brighton and Hove before his death and the addresses in various editions of KD suggest that his fortunes fluctuated.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Wrote report: Brighton and Hove, - St John, Carlton Hill (1875-78)
R Wheeler
Robert Wheeler (1827/28-after 1891) was born in Worcester, but he moved to Kent and became known as ‘Wheeler of Brenchley’. He was there in 1861, as were Hooker and Wheeler – Hooker may be J M Hooker – which was presumably his practice. He was in Tunbridge Wells in the early 1870s, but back in Brenchley in 1876 (KD/Kent) and may always have kept a presence there. In 1881 he was a widower in Tonbridge, but was living in Bloomsbury in 1891. An architect of the name at Bedford Chambers, 29 Southampton Street in 1856-60 and 13A Great George Street in 1865-66 (KD/L) is probably the same – Hooker was then in London, but apparently elsewhere. Wheeler designed and restored churches and public buildings.
Restored: Ashington (1871-72); Ewhurst Green (1869); Kingston by Lewes (1874)
G L Whelpton
Gertrude Lowe Whelpton (1867-1963) was the daughter of the first vicar of St Saviour, Eastbourne, Henry Robert Whelpton. His father, George, a self-made man from the north of England, paid for much of the church. The daughter was a talented artist who trained professionally in London (in 1891 she was an art student living with her aunt in Cavendish Square) and exhibited her work in public, but in accordance with the social norms of the day she did not seek to earn her living in this way. She died at Uckfield.
(My thanks to Philip Cox for providing most of the above information).
Glass: Eastbourne, - St Saviour
S Whistler
Simon Whistler (1940-2005) was the son of Laurence Whistler, who was mainly responsible for reviving the art of glass engraving in England. The son learned the art from his father and pursued it during a successful career as a professional viola player. In his later years he took up engraving full time and amongst other things produced quite a few church windows.
Obit: The Times 26 April 2005
Glass: Funtington; Slindon
E E White
Eley Emlyn White (1853/54-1900) was the partner of J T Christopher in London, after being a pupil of his father, James Charles Christopher. He worked briefly in W Burges’s office, but little is known of him as an independent architect. His private life was turbulent. He separated from his wife and shot himself in Kensington after shooting a young actress.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Repaired; Treyford (1888 - dem)
William White
William White is recorded as a sculptor and maker of monuments in c1631.
Memorial: Isfield (attr)
W White
William Henry White (1825-1900) was the son of a Northamptonshire curate related to Gilbert White of Selborne. He was articled to a firm of architects in Leamington before joining the office of Sir George G Scott, a family friend. He may have been a pupil here for a short time, but within two years had started a practice in Cornwall. He moved to London in 1852 and shared an office with G F Bodley for a few years. He worked all over Southern England and also wrote extensively. Like W Butterfield and G E Street (he had also trained with the latter) many of his churches use polychromy and he was a regular contributor to The Ecclesiologist, which admired his work. He was a member of the Professional Committee of the ICBS and is not to be confused with a namesake who was for many years secretary of the RIBA.
Lit: BAL Biog file; DNB
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - St Luke, Queen’s Park (1875 – dem and replaced); Littlehampton, - St John (1876-80 - probably and dem)
Restored: Beddingham (1884); Boxgrove (nd - doubtful); Littlehampton, -St Mary (1888-89 – dem); West Wittering (1875)
J Whitehead
This firm of sculptors and masons initially had an address in Rochester Row, Westminster where they were certainly to be found in 1905. They were probably there by 1886, when there is a reference to a firm of stone merchants of this name in the same street, and were also said to be at Aberdeen, possibly because of the popularity of granite from there for tombs. They later moved to Kennington, where they were last recorded in 1974.
Fitting: Brighton and Hove, - St John, Preston, font
R O Whitfield J A Thomas
Richard Osborne Whitfield (1843/44-1900) and John Alick Thomas (1853/54-after 1915) were partners. Thomas was a pupil of W Slater and R H Carpenter and later B Ingelow’s assistant. From 1878 to 1899 he and Whitfield were at 20 Cockspur Street, an address favoured by architects – George Somers Clarke, uncle of the better known Somers Clarke junior, was there in 1875 and also in 1880 F E Jones and W S Weatherley, who had been pupils and later assistants of Sir George G Scott. Nothing suggests they practised jointly, though Weatherley signed Thomas’s FRIBA nomination in 1907. In 1900 Thomas moved to 60 Haymarket, probably after Whitfield died. Whitfield was born in Southwark and lived and died in Hampstead. The practice did mainly domestic work and Thomas, the junior partner, probably took the lead in building churches, designing several in the Surrey suburbs where he lived.
Designed: Crowborough, - All Saints (1881-83)
A Whitty
Anthony Whitty belonged to the practice of Ford, Newman and Whitty of Eastbourne, which first appears in directories in 1969 and of which he was a member in 1984 when he worked at Ovingdean. An architect of the same name, who had earlier belonged to the practice of Anthony Whitty and Wilson of (then) Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia and designed a Methodist church there in 1953, may be the same.
Extended: Ovingdean (1984)
F Wigg
Francis Wigg (1789/90-1868) was the son of a London surveyor and was a builder, surveyor and architect, as well as a magistrate. His address was in Bedford Row and he died wealthy. His partners included G Pownall, who also signed the plans of St Clement, Halton, Hastings as architect, though T Catley was also involved.
Designed: Hastings, - St Clement, Halton (1839 – dem)
A Wilds
Amon Wilds (c1762-1833) was a builder and surveyor in Lewes, until he moved to Brighton about 1815, though as a property owner, he still had a franchise in Lewes in 1818 (LBPB). Most buildings in Brighton that he was associated with were designed by C A Busby or his son A H Wilds (see immediately below), who was Busby’s partner for a while. However, he designed a few in Lewes and Brighton.
Designed: Lewes, - All Saints (1805)
A H Wilds
Amon Henry Wilds (1789/90-1857) was the son of A Wilds (see immediately above) with whom he worked in Lewes and Brighton. C A Busby was his partner from 1823 to 1825 and probably took the lead in their joint work, which was mostly domestic. After they parted, Wilds was more prominent and in 1831 exhibited at the RA. He was also involved in work on the sea defences. In 1837 (PB 1837) and 1851 he was at 8 Western Terrace, Brighton and in 1855 he was in Shoreham (KD), with his name spelled ‘Wylds’ – his death is recorded in the more familiar version and he was buried in New Shoreham churchyard.
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - St George (1824-25); - Holy Trinity, Ship Street (1817 and possibly altered it in c1826-27); - St Margaret (1824 - attr and dem); - St Mary (1827 – attr and dem)
Memorial: Brighton and Hove, - St Nicholas (attr)
A L Wilkinson
Alfred Lashbrook Wilkinson’s (1899-1983) father, Horace Wilkinson (1866-1957), also designed stained glass, with a London studio in Great Russell Street. After the son had studied at St Martin’s School of Art, they worked together at 101 Gower Street, which they shared with A J Dix. Later he had a studio in North London and then in Brightlingsea, Essex. He designed several windows for George King and Son of Norwich.
Glass: Forest Row; Washington; Wivelsfield
T Willement
Thomas Willement (1786-1871) was the son of a painter of coaches and heraldry, in whose business he probably started. His interest in heraldry led by 1812 to his involvement in stained glass – until the 1840s the majority of his glass was heraldic, though by 1829 he had designed several church windows in what passed for a mediaeval style. They did not please A W Pugin or the Ecclesiologists, though he made glass for the former in the early 1840s, until they quarrelled over Willement's high prices and lack of the necessary skills. At this time, he sought to adapt his style to the new idiom, but success was limited, though he pioneered the placing of panels of biblical scenes against a decorative background. He continued to produce glass until he retired in 1865, though his ledger in his last years shows that many of the churches he supplied were those with which he already had connections, rather than new ones. Much of his glass has been replaced. His business at 25 Green Street, Mayfair (where his father had also been before him) extended beyond glass, for he did decorative schemes and fitted out houses. In Pigot’s Directory for 1839 he is also listed as a plumber, showing he could make the leadwork for his windows and he produced zinc boards bearing the Ten Commandments etc for reredoses, of which few survive.
Lit: Ledger 1841-65 (National Art Library Special Collections 86.ZZ.169); DNB
Fittings: Bodiam, pulpit; Northiam, heraldic painting
Glass: Balcombe; Bodiam; East Lavington; Fairlight (formerly); Forest Row; Hurstpierpoint; New Shoreham; Northiam; Peasmarsh (formerly); Tortington (attr); Withyham, - St Michael; Worth; Worthing, - St Andrew, West Tarring; - St Mary, Broadwater
M M Williams
Morris Meredith Williams (1881-1973) was Welsh by birth and studied at the Slade School and in France and Italy. He designed stained glass as well as being a painter and book illustrator. His later glass was produced for Lowndes and Drury. His wife from 1906, Gertrude, was also a stained glass artist and they collaborated until her death in 1934.
See under Lowndes and Drury for his work for them
---- Williamson
There is only a single reference in 1863 to this glassmaker or, more likely, seller in Chichester. Directories of the period do not contain anyone likely.
Glass: Fairlight
T Willsher
Thomas Willsher (1840-after 1901) was a builder of 18 St John’s Street, Chichester, who was born at Oving, the son of an agricultural labourer. In 1871 he contracted for a new west window at Yapton, which he may have designed. By 1901 he had moved to East Ham, where he worked as a joiner. A man of the same name and age died at Ticehurst in 1906.
Restored: Yapton (1871)
T Wilmshurst
Thomas Wilmshurst (1806/07-1880) was born in Clerkenwell and described himself in 1851 as an artist in stained glass. Curiously he does not appear in the other censuses undertaken during his lifetime, though he was an established glass designer, whose pictorial idiom was at odds with the mediaeval style favoured by artists such as A W N Pugin. A window in the Ely stained glass museum from the cathedral shows the influence of the German Nazarene painters. He was at one time partner of F Oliphant (1818-59), who had been employed by J Hardman and Co whilst Pugin had been associated with them. In addition to the work he may be presumed to have done for S S Teulon at Netherfield around 1856, Wilmshurst worked for him elsewhere. The name is a common one in Sussex and he died at Horsham.
Glass: Netherfield
G C Wilson
Geoffrey Cecil Wilson (1887-1958) was a pupil of Guy Dawber and was S J Tatchell’s partner in London from c1923; the third in the partnership was E H Bourchier. Most of the shops and commercial buildings he designed are in Eastbourne, where he did much work at the College.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed (consultant): Eastbourne, - St Elisabeth (1935-38 – with Tatchell)
H Wilson
Henry Wilson (1864-1934) worked for J D Sedding after training as an architect with J O Scott and John Belcher. He took over Sedding's practice after the latter's sudden death, completing the projects in hand. The two men shared a belief in the supremacy of the architect in uniting the talents of all the artists and craftsmen involved in its construction. From 1896 to 1901 he was editor of the Architectural Review and wrote about architecture more widely. He lacked confidence over the practical side of architecture and in consequence moved towards church fittings, particularly metalwork and sculpture, which was reflected in his membership of the Art Workers Guild. He was also celebrated for his exotic jewellery designs. His obituary in The Times criticised the fussiness of his larger scale work and did not mention his architectural background.
Lit: BAL Biog file; Obit: The Times 9 March 1934; DNB
Altered: Brighton and Hove, - St Bartholomew (1895-1898 - not carried out)
Fittings: Brighton and Hove, - St Bartholomew, fittings
H W Wilson
Harry Warren Wilson can be found between 1924 and 1967. In the earlier year he first exhibited a design for stained glass at the RA and did so for the last time in 1952. His glass was made at the Glass House. This was in Fulham, where he lived until he moved to Kingston, Surrey. He also painted murals.
Glass: Fittleworth
J Wippell and Co
The firm emerged by 1851 from a long established Exeter supplier of cloth and clothing. As well as being funeral directors, they became ecclesiastical purveyors with a shop in London from 1897, now in Westminster. Their earliest glass dates from 1896 and G B Cooper-Abbs was later chief designer; other designers included F W Cole and R Coomber. Most of their fittings in the first half of the C20 remained gothic, though W H R Blacking was a designer for them. In the 1970s Wippell’s acquired the church fittings business of A R Mowbray and the joint stained glass workshop became known as the Wippell, Mowbray Studios. They are particularly well known today for vestments.
Fittings: Coates, reredos; Worthing, - St John, West Worthing, unspecified
Glass: Coleman’s Hatch; Horsted Keynes
R S Witting
Robert Stanley Witting (1920-92) was an architect with an office at 5, The Hornet, Chichester. No other example of his work has come to light.
Extended: Shoreham Beach (1971)
W Wonham
William Kimber Wonham (1797-1877) was a builder of High Street, Bognor in 1839 (PD), 1845 (KD) and 1851, who was born in Bersted and died at Ross on Wye, whence his wife came. His father was Daniel and he in turn may be the father of Daniel Wonham (1839/40-92), land valuer and estate agent, also born at Bersted, who was visiting Ross in 1881 and died there.
Designed: Bognor Regis, - St John the Baptist, Steyne (1821 and c1834 – dem)
F D Wood
Francis Derwent Wood (1871-1926) was born in Keswick, the son of the manager of a pencil making works, and after schooling on the continent studied at the National Art Training School in London from 1887. He then assisted Alphonse Legros at the Slade School, before becoming assistant to Sir Thomas Brock, whose best known work is the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace, on which Wood worked. As his reputation grew, he was much sought after as a sculptor of public works and a designer of architectural carving. From 1918 he was professor of sculpture at the Royal College of Art, as well as being elected as an RA. He designed many war memorials, notably that to the Machine Gun Corps at Hyde Park Corner, and carved the wreaths on the Cenotaph. He is buried at Amberley.
Lit: DNB
Memorials: Amberley
R D Wood
For Ralph Denison Wood, see under Lefevre, Wood and Royle.
F A Woodhouse
Francis Arthur Woodhouse was a glass maker whose bare existence is known only from a single reference in 1868.
Glass: Bury
J Woodman
James Woodman (1822/23-97) was a Gloucestershire man, who became an architect and surveyor with an address in Cliftonville, Hove and later what was probably a professional one at 17 Prince Albert Street, Brighton. He must be the ‘Mr Woodman’ who restored Preston and he is known to have worked as far afield as Sandown, Isle of Wight (B 19 p828).
Designed: Brighton and Hove, - Holy Trinity, Blatchington Road, (1863-68)
Restored: Brighton and Hove, - St Peter, Preston (1874)
J F Woodward
For details of relevant work by John Francis Woodward of Hastings, see Stevens Partnership.
W Woodward
William Woodward (1846-1927) was a London architect, who was a pupil of Arthur Cates and in his office until 1891. He worked for the Crown Estates, designing commercial and public buildings. He was Mayor of Hampstead in 1910-11 and was interested in ancient monuments.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Restored: Seaford (1895)
H Woodyer
Henry Woodyer (1816-96) was the son of a prosperous Guildford apothecary, who could afford to have his son educated at Eton. He was an associate and possibly pupil of W Butterfield and practised in Guildford before moving to a rural retreat at Grafham, Surrey. His practice covered the South and the Midlands and he was active in Sussex, close by. His restorations could be heavy-handed, but he had a compensating gift for the picturesque. His own churches reveal an eye for detail and great care over fittings.
Lit: J Elliott and J Pritchard: Henry Woodyer, Gentleman Architect, 2002; A Quiney: A Brief Account of the Life and Work of Henry Woodyer, 1995
Designed: Chichester, - All Saints, Portfield (1869-71)
Restored/extended: Berwick (1855-56); Bexhill, - St Mark, Little Common (1857 and 1885); Bignor (1870s, plans); Bolney (1853-54); Catsfield (1847-49); Coldwaltham (1870-71); Crawley, - St John (1879-80); Eartham (1869); Fernhurst (1859 - attributed erroneously); Fittleworth (1871); Hardham (1866); Kirdford (1877-78); Linchmere (1856); Mid Lavant (1871-72); Patching (1888-89); Rusper (1854-55); Slaugham (1854 – unexecuted); Sutton (1863-64 and 1877-79); Westbourne (c1861/2); Woodmancote (1868-73)
H E Wooldridge
Harry Ellis Wooldridge (1845-1917) was born in Winchester and studied painting at the RA Schools. There he met Sir E Burne-Jones, who greatly influenced his style, and then became assistant to H Holiday. His work in this capacity included helping Holiday with designs for glass whilst he was chief designer for J Powell and Son. Even after Wooldridge's success as a painter allowed him to be independent, he continued to make designs that Powell's produced. He also designed furniture. He was an expert in the then obscure field of early music and in architecture was associated with Somers Clarke junior. In later life he was also Professor of Art at Oxford University.
Lit: DNB
Fitting: Brighton - St Martin, reredos
E A Woore
Edward A Woore (1880-1960), who was universally known as 'Davie', was a pupil of C Whall (see above) and remained close to him; he later managed his studio. He also collaborated with Whall’s daughter Veronica (see above), before setting up his own studio in 1924. During World War II he made designs for J Bell and Co of Bristol, whose then owner, Arnold Robinson, was a fellow-pupil of Whall.
Obit: BSMGPJ 13/2 (1961) p444
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Peter, West Blatchington; Eastbourne, - Christ Church, - St Philip
G G Wornum
George Grey Wornum (1888-1957) was articled to his uncle, Ralph Selden Wornum, before setting up in practice in 1910, though he was initially also active as a draughtsman for books. He was severely wounded in World War I, losing an eye, and his practice in the 1920s, often in conjunction with Louis de Soissons, was largely concerned with housing. On his own in the 1930s, his best known work was the RIBA building in Portland Place (he was president in 1930-31), which he won in a competition that attracted 270 entries. This led to work on the interior of the liner, Queen Elizabeth. After World War II, he laid out Parliament Square and his last work is at Bosham, where the churchyard gates are a memorial to his daughter. His wife was American and a writer on architecture. He spent his last years in the USA, mainly for the sake of his health.
Lit: DNB; Obit: The Times 14 June 1957
Altered: Bosham (c1954)
W Worrall
William Worrall (1831-1911) was assistant to W G Saunders and took over his firm in 1880. Until W Burges died, he continued Saunders’s association with him. Like Saunders, little is known of his life, though he was living in 1881 in St Pancras. Two other Worralls at this address, Harry (b1854) and Frank (b1862) were Art Glass Painters and presumably his sons. The firm lasted until c1902, but ceased to do work for churches.
Glass: Brighton and Hove, - St Michael
A Wright
Alan Wright was raised in Hastings, where he attended school from about 1970. After studying Fine Arts in Bristol and architectural stained glass at Swansea he returned there and opened a studio. He has also taught locally. His work covers both designs for stained glass in churchs and private and public buildings and he has also restored glass.
Source: Artist's website
Glass: Hastings, - St Helen, Ore (new); - St Nicholas (Fisherman's Church); Salehurst; Sedlescombe; Westfield
J Wyatt
James Wyatt (1746-1813) was the son of a Staffordshire builder and is the most celebrated, if not always the finest, of the later C18 and C19 family of architects. He rose to become Surveyor-General, the leading position in the government’s Office of Public Works. After travel and study in Italy, he became famous at an early age and thereafter had a large practice until his death in a coach accident. He designed many country houses and was proficient in classical and gothic, though as he grew older he showed a preference for the gothic for both houses and churches. His carelessness over the structural and financial sides of his practice, both official and private, was remarkable. It was probably the result of overwork and personal indiscipline and was offset only partly by his immense personal charm. In Sussex, Sheffield Park and West Dean Park are examples of his gothic houses (the latter altered) and Goodwood is one of his stranger classical designs. His easy facility was criticised both by contemporaries and later writers, though in fact his knowledge of gothic was advanced for his time and in the classical style his rejection of the baroque was in the van of taste. He was also the first systematic restorer of the great cathedrals and his often cavalier treatment of earlier features he disliked, such as the destruction of the separate bell-tower at Salisbury, earned him the contempt of many contemporaries and of the Victorians (‘Wyatt the Destroyer’).
Lit: J M Robinson: The Wyatts – an Architectural Dynasty, Oxford 1979 (pp 56-89); DNB
Designed: East Grinstead, - St Swithun (1789-93)
J D Wylson
John Duncan Wylson (1908-62) was of Scottish ancestry and his grandfather and father (Oswald) were architects. The last was best known for designing theatres and cinemas, notably the London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus. J D Wylson studied at the Architectural Association and started his practice in 1932 in Jermyn Street. After World War II he moved to Bayswater and taught at several colleges. In 1950 he moved again to Rye, though he kept his London office and R C Cox (RCC) became his partner in 1961. He is said to have restored many churches in Kent and Sussex, so those listed below are unlikely to be his complete work.
Lit: BAL Biog file
Designed: Winchelsea Beach (1961-62)
Altered/extended: Bexhill, - St Mark, Little Common (1962); Brighton and Hove, - St Philip (1958)
Repaired: Ashburnham (1961); Northiam (1966 - posthumous, i e RCC); Peasmarsh (1962-63 with RCC); Rye Harbour (1958-61); Winchelsea (1960)
E A Wyon
Edward Alexander Wyon (1842-72) was a London architect, the son of Edward William Wyon (1811-85), a successful sculptor, who belonged to the family of medallists and engravers of this name. The son was born in Bloomsbury and in 1871 lived with his mother at 70 Mornington Road, whilst his father resided next door. His office was in Duke Street, Adelphi (KD/L), but he died at Hastings. He was presumably the author of A Memorial Volume of Poems by the late Edward Alexander Wyon, which appeared in 1874 and was reprinted as recently as 2008.
Lit (on the Wyon family): L Forrer: The Wyons, 1917
Designed: Hastings, - St John Hollington (1865-68)
York Glaziers Trust
This was founded in 1967 with the main task of preserving and conserving the mediaeval glass of York. It later extended its activities beyond the city.
Glass: Kingston by Lewes
A Young
Arthur Young (1853-after 1924) was a pupil of Philip Lockwood, Brighton Borough Surveyor and studied in Switzerland. He was in the offices of B Ferrey, Somers Clarke junior and J T Micklethwaite, but started his own practice in 1877 - he was in London on his own in 1884 (B 46 p169). Most of the churches he designed were Roman Catholic, including one at Bexhill. He later became partner of the considerably younger A D Reid.
Designed: South Lancing (1924)
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