Butterfield, William 1814 - 1900

William Butterfield was born in London, England on 7 September 1814. In c.1830 he was apprenticed to Thomas Arbor, a builder in Pimlico, London. Two years later he began training as an architect and was articled to Edward Lushington Blackburne (1803-1888) in London. He later briefly worked in the office of William Inwood (c.1771-1843) and Henry William Inwood (1794-1843), and, from 1838, in a practice in Worcester, probably that of Harvey Eginton (1809-1849).

In 1840 he returned to London and set up a practice in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Two years later he relocated his practice to 4 Adam Street, Adelphi, London where he remained for the rest of his career as an architect.

In 1844 he was elected to the Cambridge Camden Society (from 1845 known as the The Ecclesiological Society), a learned architectural society founded in 1839 by undergraduate students at Cambridge University to promote "the study of Gothic Architecture". This placed Butterworth at the heart of the mid-Victorian religious revival. He immediately took a leading role in the activities of the Society, providing all the designs for the first series of the Society’s Instrumenta Ecclesiastica (1844–7) and editing the second series (1850–52, 1856). His association with the Society influenced his architectural style and his choice of commissions. He subsequently worked almost exclusively on churches, designing approximately one hundred of them. His non-religious buildings included the Royal Hampshire Hospital and buildings for Keble College, Oxford and Rugby School.

A feature of Butterfield's architectural style was his bold use of polychrome brickwork and stone, and the extensive amount of marquetry work in the interior of his buildings. He was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal in 1884. He died at his home, 42 Bedford Square, London, on 23 February 1900.

Worked in

Works

Highbury Chapel, Bristol (1842); St. Saviour's Church and Vicarage. Colpit Heath, Glouestershire (1844-49); St. Augustine's College, Canterbury, Kent (1844-73); Rebuilding of St. Bartholomew's Church, Yealmton, Devon (1848-49); SS. James and Mary church, Alfington, Devon (1849); Restoration of St. Mary's church, Ottery S. Mary, Devon (1849-50); Cathedral of the Isles, Cumbrae, Bute, Scotland (1849-51); All Saints Church, Vicarage and choir school, Margaret Street, London (1849-50); St. Dunstan's Abbey, Plymouth, Devon (1850; St. Matthias Church, Matthias Road, London; 1851-53); Vicarage, Cowick, Yorkshire; Milton Ernest Hall, Bedfordshire (1853-56); All Saints' Churchg, Vicarage and school, Wykeham, Yorkshire (1853-54); All Saints Church, Brashfield, Hampshire (1854-55); Church and School, Langley, near Maidstone, Kent (1854-55); St. Mary's Church, Milton, near Banbury, Oxfordshire (1854-56); Balliol College chapel, Oxford (1854-57); St. James' Church, Waresley, Cambridgeshire (1855-57); Church and cottages, Balerby St. James, Yorkshire (1855); St. Mary's Church, Etal, Northumberland (1856-58); Church, Bamford, Derbyshire (1856-60); Church school, Balerby St. James, Yorkshire (1857); School House, Trumpington, Cambridgeshire (1857); Rectory, St. Mawgan-in-Pydar, Cornwall (1858); Rugby School, Warwickshire (1858-84); St. John's Church, Glenthorne Road, London (1858-59); St. Nicholas' School, Enmore Road, Newbury, Berkshire (1859); Rectory of St. Paul, 14 Burleigh Street, London 1859-60); School, Castle Hill, Devon (1859-64); Alteration to St. Alban's Church, Brook Street, London 1861-62); Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester, Hampshire (1863-68); St. Augustine's Church, Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales (1864-66); St. Anne's Church, Dropmore, Buckinghamshire (1865-66); All Saints' Church, Babbacombe, Devon (1865-74); Keble College, Oxford (1867-83); Alterations to Christ Church, Albany Road, London (1867); St. Augustine's Church, Queen's Gate, London (1870-77); St. Mary's Church, Brookfield, Dartmouth Park Hill, London (1876); St. Mark Dundela, Belfast, Ireland (1876-91); Exeter Grammar School, Exeter, Devon (1877-87); St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (1877-91); St. Michael's Home, Axeminster, Devon (1878); The Chanter's House, Ottery St. Mary, Devon (1880-83); Restoration of St John the Baptist's Church, Ault Hucknall, Derbyshire (1885–89); Gordon's School, West End near Woking, Surrey (1885); St Michael's Church, Woolwich, London (1888); Additions to St Andrew's church, Rugby, Warwickshire (1895) .