Walter Henry Brierley [also known as W. H. Brierley] was born at Latchford, Warrington, Lancashire, England in 1862. He was articled to his father, John Brierley (1842-1901), an architect in York, from 1877 to 1881, following which he continued to work with him as his assistant. He then worked as an assistant to architects in Warrington and Liverpool before taking a position with James Demaine (1851-1891) in York. Brierley was architect to the North Riding Council from 1901 to 1923, and consulting architect to the Diocese of York from 1908 to 1921. From 1918 onwards he was in partnership with James Harvey Rutherford (1875-1946), who had formerly been his assistant.
Photographs of the entrance Hall and parlour at 'Bishopsbarns', York designed by Brierley are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1907 (p.52); photographs of and plans of Thorpe Underwood Hall in Yorkshire and 'Dyke Nook' in Yorkshire designed by Brierley are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1910 (pp.22, 23, 24); two photographs of 'Bishopthorpe Garth' in York, designed by Brierley are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1912 (p.11); and two drawings and a ground-floor plan of a house at Sittingbourne designed by Brierley are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1915 (p.59).
Brierley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1906 and was a Fellow of the Society of Architects (FSA). His practice was based at 13 Lendal, York from 1906 onwards. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London for many years. Brierley died in Hove, Sussex, on 22 August 1926.
A biographical file on Walter Henry Brierley is available on request from the Enquiry Desk Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
It is believed that Brierley designed some 300 buildings between 1885 and 1926. These included the restoration of All Saints' Church in Rufford, West Riding, Yorkshire (1894-95); the restoration of of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Goathland, North Riding, Yorkshire (1894-96); the restoration of the fire-damaged Welburn Hall in North Riding, Yorkshire (1890); Midland Bank in Whitby, Yorkshire (1891); the Close in Brompton, Northallerton, North Riding, Yorkshire (1895); Scarcroft Road School in York (1896); St. Peter's Church in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire (1892-1901); 'York City and County Bank at Bridlington Quay (1900); Grimston Court in East Riding, Yorkshire (1901); St. Oswald in Sowerby, North Riding, Yorkshire 1902); St. Luke's Church in York (1902); St. Philip's Church at Buckingham Palace Road in London (1902); St. Thomas's Church in Kensal New Town, London (1902); the Galtres in Easingwood, North Riding, Yorkshire (1902); The Vicarage in Huntington, North Riding, Yorkshire (1903); the interiors of Heslington Hall (now part of York University) (1903); additions to The Close in Brompton, Northallerton, North Riding, Yorkshire (1904); Poppleton and Haxby Road Schools in York (1904)County Hall in Northallerton, West Riding, Yorkshire (1904-06); Brackencliffe in Scarborough, Yorkshire (1905); additional buildings at Burrough Court in Leicestershire (1906); additions to Normanby Park in Lincolnshire (1907); restoration of Whixley Hall in West Riding, Yorkshire (1907); Howarth Art Gallery in Accrington, Lancashire (1908); Crendle Court in Purse Caundle, Dorset (1908); Hackness Hall in North Riding, Yorkshire (1910); Lynn Garth in Stockton-on-the Forest, North Riding, Yorkshire (1910-11); High Green in Ilkley, West Riding, Yorkshire (1911); Lumley Barracks in York (1911); Sion Hall in Kirby Wiske, North Riding, Yorkshire (1912-13); and additions to Acklam Hall in Acklam, North Riding, Yorkshire (1912-13). He also designed improvements to the race courses at Newmarket, York, Gosforth, etc., and designed banks in Doncaster, Sheffield, Newcastle, Sunderland, Rotherham and York.
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See also
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North East of England: a handboo. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2013
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in Yorkshire: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2013
Aslet, Clive. ‘Scholarly sensibility: the country houses of W H Brierley (1)’. Country Life vol. 172, no. 4440, 23 September 1982 pp. 878-891
Aslet, Clive. ‘Redbrick classicism: the country houses of W. H. Brierley (2)’. Country Life vol. 172, no. 4441, 30 September 1982 pp. 974-977
Carus, Charles. Walter Henry Brierley, Architect, 1862-1926. Diploma in Architectural Studies thesis, University of York, 1973
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Marriott, Charles. Modern English Architecture. London: Chapman & Hall, 1924
‘Men who build. No. 60: Messers Demaine and Brierley’. Builders’ Journal 25 July 1900 p. 455
Nuttgens, Patrick. Brierley in Yorkshire: the architecture of the turn of the century. York, England: York Georgian Society, 1984
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 131, 3 September 1926 p.365
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 33, 18 September 1926 p. 575
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 p. 58
Who's Who in Architecture. Edited by Frederick Chatterton. London: The Architectural Press, 1926