Benjamin Ferrey was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England on 1 April 1810 and from c.1825 to c.1832 was a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin (1769-1832) in London. He also trained under William Wilkins (1778-1839) in London in 1833. He commenced practice as an architect in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, in London in 1834 and was for a period in partnership with Thomas Larkins Walker (1811-1860). In 1841 Ferrey was appointed Diocesan Architect to Bath and Wells, a post he held until his death.
Ferrey was one of the leading exponents of the Gothic Revival style in England. He is primarily known as an architect of ecclesiastical buildings and between the early 1840s and the late 1870s designed or restored numerous churches. He was the author of several publications on architecture and architectural history, notably Recollections of A. N. Welby Pugin and his Father, Augustus Pugin (1861)
Ferrey was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1839 and was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 1870. He was twice Vive-President of the Royal Institute of British Architects
He died at his home, 55 Inverness Terrace, Bayswater, London on 22 August 1880. His His son, Benjamin Edmund Ferrey (1845-1900) was also an architect and worked in his father's office from 1862 to 1869 when he set up his own practice.
Rectory, Tarrant Hinton, Dorset (1836); Houses, Westover, Hampshire (1836); Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth, Hampshire (1837-38); Restoration of St Thomas of Church, Compton Valence, Dorset (1839–40); Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester, Dorset (from 1839); Clyffe House, Tincleton, Dorset (1842); St James Church, Hambridge, Somerset (1842); St Nicholas, Corfe, Somerset Parish church of St Nicholas, Corfe, Somerset, 1842[13] All Saints' Church, Dogmersfield, Hampshire (1843); All Saints' Church, High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset, with A.D.H Acland (1843–45); St James' Church, Morpeth, Northumberland (1843–46); St John the Evangelist Church, Hale, Surrey (1844); St Nicholas' Church, Grafton, Wiltshire (1844); Restoration and alterations to St Mary's Church, Winterborne Whitchurch, Dorset (1844) St Thomas' Church, Keresley, Coventry (1844–45); Restoration of St Mary's Church, Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire (1845);Restoration of chancel, Holy Trinity Church, Nuffield, Oxfordshire (1845); St Stephen's Church, Baughurst, Hampshire (1845); Christ Church, Melplash, Dorset (1845–46); Alterations to St Swithin's Church, Wickham, Berkshire (1845–49); Holy Trinity Church, Yeovil, Somerset (1843–46); Reconstruction of St Osmund's Church, Osmington, Dorset (1846); St Barnabas' Church, Swanmore, Hampshire (1846); St Edmund's Church, Vobster, Somerset (1846); St Mary's Church, Twyford, Berkshire (1846); St Peter's Church, West Lydford, Somerset (1846); SS Peter and Paul Chapel, Bishop's Palace, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire (1846); Market Cross, Glastonbury, Somerset (1846); Christ Church, Henton, Somerset (1847); Municipal buildings, Dorchester, Dorset (1847–48); St Boniface' Church, Bonchurch, Isle of Wight (1847–48); St Peter's College, Saltley, Birmingham (1847–52); St Barnabas' Church, Linslade, Bedfordshire (1848); St John the Baptist Church, Plush, Dorset (1848); Restoration of Holy Trinity Church, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire (1848); Restoration of St Mary the Virgin Church, Stamfordham, Northumberland (1848); Pulpitum for Christchurch Priory, Hampshire (1848); West front of Stafford House, West Stafford, Dorset (1848–50); Alterations to St Margaret's Church, Harpsden, Oxfordshire (1848–54); Holy Trinity Church, Penn Street, Buckinghamshire (1849); St John the Evangelist Church, Tincleton, Dorset (1849); School House, Tincleton, Dorset (c. 1849); Holy Trinity Church, Wood Green, Witney, Oxfordshire (1849); St Peter's Church, Cranbourne, Berkshire (1849); Restoration of All Saints' Church, Bisham, Berkshire: restoration (1849); Restoration of All Saints' Church, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire (1849); St Thomas' Church, Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire (1849–52); Alterations to Holy Trinity Church, Grazeley, Berkshire (1850); Restoration of with addition of spire, St Michael's Church, Littlebredy, Dorset (1850); Restoration of St Botolph's Cchurch, Swyncombe, Oxfordshire (1850); St Teilo's Church, Merthyr Mawr, Wales (1851); South aisle, St Laurence's Church, Upton, Slough, Buckinghamshire (1852); St Mark's Church, Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire (1852); Rebuilding of tower, St Mary's Church, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire (1853); Holy Trinity Church, Deanshanger, Northamptonshire (1853); St Paul's Church, Neithrop, Banbury, Oxfordshire (1853); Church of St Mary , Buckland St Mary, Somerset (1853–63); Old Rectory, Battleford Hall, Fleet, Lincolnshire (1854); St Mark's Church, Fairfield, Worcestershire (1854); All Saints Church, Huntsham, Devon (1854–56); Rebuilding of All Saints Church, Castle Cary, Somerset (1855); Christ Church, Bala, Merionethshire, Wales (1855); St Giles' Church, Barlestone, Leicestershire (1855); St Paul's Church, Scropton, Derbyshire (1855–56); All Saints' Church, Curland, Somerset (1856); Chapels, Ocklynge cemetery, Eastbourne, East Sussex (1857); All Saints' Church, Blackheath (1857–67); Christ Church, Eastbourne, East Sussex (1859); Grammar School, Morpeth, Northumberland (1859); Chase Cliffe House, Crich, Derbyshire (1859–61); St Andrew's Church, West Hatch, Somerset (1861); Additions to All Saints Church, Merriott, Somerset (1862); House, Bulstrode Park, Buckinghamshire (1862); Restoration of Christchurch Priory, Hampshire (1862); Rebuilding of the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Taunton in collaboration with George Gilbert Scot (1862); Restoration of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, East Stoke, Somerset (1862); Restoration of St Mary's parish church, Eling, Hampshire (1863–65); SS Mary and Peter's Church, Pett, East Sussex (1864); Restoration of chancel, St Mary's Church, Warmington, Northamptonshire (1865); St Michael and All Angels' church, Chetwynd, Shropshire (1865–67); Restoration of All Hallows' Church, Whitchurch, Hampshire (1866); St Mary's Church, East Lydford, Somerset (1866); church of SS Peter and Paul, Lufton, Somerset (1866); Restoration of St Giles' Church, Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales (1867); Huntsham Court, Devon (1868–70); Huntsham Court, Huntsham, Devon (1868–70); All Saints Church, Chipstable, Somerset (1869); Rebuilding of St Michael's Church, Otterton, Devon (1869–71); Christ Church and vicarage, Colbury, Hampshire (1870); Rebuilding of St James' Church, Birlingham, Worcestershire (1871–72); Chancel of St John the Evangelist Church, Holdenhurst, Hampshire (1873); Chancel of St Mary's Church, Bransgore, Hampshire (1873); Restoration of North aisle of Church of St Michael, Enmore, Somerset (1873); Church of St Mary Magdalene, Wookey Hole, Somerset (1873–74); Chancel of St Mary's Church, Tarrant Hinton, Dorset (1874); St Mary's Church, Wingham (1874–75); Church of St Luke, Burton, Christchurch, Dorset (1874–75); Holy Trinity Church, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset ( 1875–76); North aisle of Church of the Holy Cross, Babcary, Somerset: (1876)
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See also : Wikimedia Common [link below]
geograph [link below]
Historic England [link below]
British Listed Buildings [link below]
Avery, Derek. Victorian and Edwardian Architecture. London: Chaucer Press, 2003
‘Benjamin Ferrey, F.S.A., Past Vice-President’. Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects, vol. 30, 1879–80, pp. 219–221
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects, vol. 30, 1879–80, pp. 219–221
Eastlake, Charles L. A History of the Gothic Revival. London: Longmans, Green, 1872
Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, revised and enlarged edition, 1979
‘Obituary’. American Architect vol. 8, 25 September 1880 p. 153
‘Obituary’. American Art Review vol. 1, 1880 p. 555
‘Obituary’. Building News vol. 39, 3 September 1880 pp. 261-262
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 39, 28 August 1880 p. 276
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 39, 4 September 1880 pp. 281-283