John Thomas Micklethwaite [also known as J.T. Micklethwaite] was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England on 3 May 1843. After studying in the Engineering and Applied Science Department at King's College, London, he was articled to Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) in London in 1862. After completing his articles he remained in Scott's office as an assistant until 1869 when he left to set up his own practice, however, he continued to work for Scott on an ad hoc bases for some years after that.
While in Scott's office, he developed a friendship with Somers Clarke (1841-1926) with whom he formed a partnership in 1876. Because they worked so closely together it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the work of Micklethwaite and Clarke.
The partnership between Micklethwaite and Clarke was dissolved in 1892, however, they continued to work together on projects from time such as on St. Mary, Stretton, Staffordshire (1895-97).
In 1898 Micklethwaite was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey in London, a position he held until his death.
Micklethwaite wrote extensively on church architecture, archaeology, sculpture and the decorative arts, including over twenty articles for the Archaeological Journal, six for Archaeologia and two for the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. He also wrote a series of articles for The Sacristy: A Quarterly Review of Ecclesiastical Art and Literature which were published as Modern Parish Churches: Their Plan, Design and Furniture in 1874; and between 1899 and 1905 wrote a series of fifteen articles for The Church Builder. In 1891 he contributed an essay on 'Architecture and Construction' to Architecture a Profession or an Art: Thirteen Short Essays on the Qualification and Training of architects, edited by Richard Norman Shaw and T. G. Jackson.
Micklethwaite was one of the founding members of the Art Workers Guild in 1884 and was Master of the Guild in 1893. He He was a member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and lectured frequently at their meetings. He died at his home, 27 St George's Square, Westminster, London on 28 October 1906
Because Micklethwaite and Somers worked so closely together it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the work of Micklethwaite and Clarke. Architectural projects known to have been designed by Micklethwaite included St Hilda's Church, Leeds (1876–81); St Leonard's Church, Bengeo, Hertfordshire (1884-94); restoration of St. John the Baptist, Inglesham, Wiltshire (1888-89); side chapel at Keble College Oxford (1892, built specifically to house the painting 'The Light of the World' by William Holman Hunt; reconstruction of St Bartholomew's Church, Orford, Suffolk (1894-1900); the rebuilding (with the exception of the tower) of St Paul's, Morton, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire (1891–93); remodellingo Stapleford Park, Leicestershire (1894); St Peter's, Bocking, Essex (1896–97); St Saviour's, Luton (1897–1905); St Bartholomew's, East Ham (1901–02); Wimbledon Technical College in Wimbledon, Surrey (1904); a new chancel and nave for St. John, Wakefield, Yorkshire (designed in 1884 but built 1904-05); and the restoration of St Michael's and All Angels, Lydbury North, Shropshire (1907).
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Howell, Peter. ‘”A man at once strong in the present and reverent of the past” - John Thomas Micklethwaite (1843-1906)’ in Episodes in the Gothic Revival: Six Church Architects, edited by Christopher Webster. Reading: Spire, 2011 pp. 199-229
Lethaby, W. R. ‘Obituary of John Thomas Micklethwaite’. The Athenaeum 10 November 1906 pp. 589-590
Micklethwaite, J. T. Architecture and Construction' in Architecture. A Profession or an Art: Thirteen Short Essays on the Qualifications and Training of Architects. Edited by R. Norman Shaw and T. G. Jackson. London: John Murray, 1892 pp. 17-32
Micklethwaite, J. T. Modern Parish Churches. London: Henry S. King, 1874
Muthesius, Hermann. Die neuere Baukunst in England.Berlin: Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn, 1901 pp. 83-84
Niven, W. ‘Obituary of John Thomas Micklethwaite’. Architectural Review vol. 20, 1906 p.317
'Obituary'. The Builder vol. 91, 1906 p. 516