Arnold Bidlake Mitchell was born in Clapton, Middlesex, England in 1863 and was articled to Robert Stark Wilkinson (1844-1936) in London from 1880 to c.1883. He then worked as an assistant to Sir Ernest George (1839-1922) and Harold Ainsworth Peto (1854-1933) of Messrs George & Peto in 1883, and to Frank Thomas Baggallay (1855-1930). In 1884 Mitchell was Clerk of the Works at St. Luke in Bermondsey, London, for Joseph Gale (1830-1906). In the same year he entered the Royal Academy Schools in London. In 1885 he worked as an assistant to Thomas Jerram Bailey (1843-1910) at the London School Board. After working briefly as an assistant to Henry Spalding (1838-1909?), Mitchell established his own independent practice in 1886. He was also in partnership for a period with Alfred Morris Butler (1862-1946) from 1894.
A watercolour drawing of a house at Stafford designed by Mitchell is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1908 (illustration B59); two photographs and a watercolour drawing of a house and garden at Harrow-on-the-Hill, designed by Mitchell are illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1911 (pp.56, 57); and a photograph and floor plan of a house at Benenden, Kent, designed by Mitchell is illustrated in 'The Studio Yearbook of Decorative Art' 1912 (p.52).
Mitchell also designed for Lott's Bricks, an instructional construction toy.
He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1887, and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1894. He was a recipient of the Soane Medal 1885 and the RIBA Silver Medal 1886.
He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, Manchester City Art Gallery and at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. He lived at addresses in Heaton Moor, Yorkshire (1882), and London, (1886, 1926). Mitchell retired to Lyme Regis in Dorset and died on 2 [or 3] November 1944.
A biographical file on Arnold Bidlake Mitchell is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Architectural projects by Mitchell included Westover House, Park Lane, Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire (1897); Christ Church Hall in Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex (1898); The Orchard, London Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex (1900); Roxeth Schools in Harrow (c.1900); Dartford School in Kent (c.1900); Port Jackson, Lower Bowden, near Pangbourne, Berkshire (1901); a library at Tissington Hall, Derbyshire (c.1901); St. Felix School in Southwold, Suffolk (1902); Mattison Road Schools in Hornsey, London (with Alfred Butler, c.1902); Orley Farm School, Harrow (c.1902); cottages in Ostend, Belgium for King Leopold of Belgium (c.1904); University College School, Frognal, Hampstead, London (1906-07); Additions to The Vineyards, Great Baddow, Essex (1907); Wheal Betsy in Newlyn, Cornwall designed for the artists Thomas Cooper Gotch and Caroline Burland (1909-11); the School of Agriculture in Cambridge (1909-10); and houses in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Northolt in Middlesex, Lewes in Sussex, Bowden Green in Berkshire, Harrow Weald. Mitchell also built three large railway stations in South America including the Plaza Constitución station in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Source of Images
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
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
‘Obituary’. Architect & Building News 10 November 1944 p.89
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 167, 10 November 1944 p. 375
Sherriff, Clare. ‘Arnold Mitchell (1863–1944): “Fecundity” and ‘Versatility’ in an Early Twentieth-Century Architect’. Architectural History, vol. 55, 2012 pp. 199-235
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 58-59
Vale, Brenda and Vale, Robert. ‘Lott's Bricks, the Arts and Crafts Movement and Arnold Mitchell’. ARQ: Architectural Research Quarterly vol. 15, no. 2, June 2011, pp. 119-130