Anthony Salvin was born in Worthing, Sussex,* England on 17 October 1799. After training with the architect John Paterson (?-1832) in Edinburgh, in 1821 he moved to Finchley, Middlesex [now London]. Shortly after he is believed to have worked in the office of John Nash (1752-1835), although there is some uncertainty about this. He subsequently established his own practice in London in c.1828.
Salvin is best known as a early pioneer of the Gothic Revival movement in Britain, however, he was equally comfortable working in various styles. He designed, restored or modernised several castles, large country houses and churches. He also designed university buildings, public buildings, and schools.
Salvin was a recognised authority on English mediaeval military architecture and acted as a consultant for work carried out at the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. In all he designed 34 new churches and restored or repaired a further 20 more. Jill Allibone in her monograph on Salvin (1987), observes that he was responsible for destroying much of the mediaeval traces in many of the churches that he 'restored'.
Salvin was elected a Fellow of the Institute of British Architects (FIBA) in 1836 and was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects' Royal Gold Medal in 1863. He died at his home, Hawksfold in Fernhurst, Sussex, on 17 December 1881
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* Place of birth given in the entry on Salvin in the Dictionary of National Biography. Other sources give Sunderland Bridge, County Durham as his place of birth. This was the birthplace of his father, General Anthony Salvin (1758–1844)
New houses or substantially remodelled houses by Salvin included Mamhead, Devon for Sir Robert Newman (1826-37); Moreby Hall, Stillingfleet, North Yorkshire for Henry Preston (1828-33); Harlaxton Manor, Harlaxton, Lincolnshire for G. Gregory (1831-38); Skutterskelfe Hall, Skutterskelfe, Yorkshire for Viscount Falkland (1832-38); Burwarton House, Burwarton, Shropshire for Viscount Boyne (1835-39, 1876-77); Scotney Castle, near Lamberhurst, Kent for edward Hussey (1835-43); Cowesby Hall, Cowesby, Yorkshire for George Lloyd (1836); Skutterskelfe Hall, Skutterskelfe, Yorkshire for Viscount Falkland (1832-38), Peckforton Castle, Peckforton, Yorkshire for John Tollemache (1844-50); Patterdale Hall, Glenridding, Westmoreland fr William Marshall (1845-50); Penoyre House in Battle, Brecon for for Colonel John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins (1846-48); Bangor Castle, Bangor Co. Down, for the Ward family (1852); Alnwick Castle, alnwick, Northumberland for the Duke of Northumberland (1854-65); Keele Hall, Keele, Staffordshire for Ralph Sneyd (1855-61); Congham High House, Congham, Norfolk for R. Elwes (1859); Whitehall, Mealsgate, for George Moore (1858-61); Thoresby Hall, near Ollerton, Nottinghamshire for Col. Rigg ((1864); Paddockhurst, Turners Hill, West Sussex for George Smith (1869-72); and Hodnet Hall, Hodnet, Shropshire for the Heber-Percy family (1870). Notable among the restorations, additions and alterations by Salvin were those to Brancepeth Castle near Durham(1829, 1864-73); Kildale Hall, Kildale, Yorkshire (1827-31); Methley Hall, Methley, Yorkshire (1830-36); Pyrgo Park, Havering-atte-Bower , Essex (c.1836); Banyons Manor, Tealby, Lincolnshire (1836); Danesfield, Buckinghamshire (1836-41); Greystoke Castle, Greystoke, Cumberland (1837-42, 1875-78); Wordon Hall, Leyland, Lancashire (1840-45); Naworth Castle, near Brampton, Cumberland (1844-53); Oxon Heath, West Peckham, Kent (1846-48); Flixton Hall, Bungay, Suffolk (1846); Hafod, near Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire (1846-51); South Park, Maidston, Kent (1848); Marbury Hall, Marbury, Cheshire (1856-58); Warwick Castle, Warwick, Warwickshire(1856-59, 1863-66); Hutton-in-the-Forest, near Skelton, Cumberland (1862-69); Capesthorne House, near Siddington, Cheshire (1865-68); Fawsley Hall, Daventry, Northamptonshire (1867-68); Dunster Castle, Dunster, Somerset (1868-72); Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex (1869-72); Longford Castle, near Salisbury, Wiltshire (1870-75), Melbury House, Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset (1872); and Birdsall House, Birdsall, North Yorkshire (1871-75). Source: Allibone, Jill. Anthony Salvin – Pioneer of Gothic Architecture; and Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House [see below]
Allibone, Jill. Anthony Salvin. Ph.D. thesis, University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1977
Allibone, Jill. Anthony Salvin – Pioneer of Gothic Architecture. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 1987 [ISBN 0718827074. Contains a full catalogue raisonné of all Salvin’s work]
Bonney, Anne. Dear Mr. Salvin. Kendal: Helm Press, 1999 [ISBN 0953183629. Discusses the building of the Church of All Saints in Ulverston, Cumbria by Salvin]
Cornforth, John. 'Hutton-in-the-Forest, Cumberland'. Country Life vol. 137, 4 February 1966 pp. 232-235 [Part one of a three-part article on the history of the architecture of Hutton-in-the-Forest, a country house near Skelton in Cumberland [now Cumbria]. Discusses the contribution made by Salvin to the fabric of the building]
Cornforth, John. 'Hutton-in-the-Forest, Cumberland'. Country Life vol. 137, 11 February 1966 pp. 286-289 [Part two of a three-part article on the history of the architecture of Hutton-in-the-Forest, a country house near Skelton in Cumberland [now Cumbria]. Discusses the contribution made by Salvin to the fabric of the building]
Cornforth, John. 'Hutton-in-the-Forest, Cumberland'. Country Life vol. 137, 18 February 1966 pp. 352-356 [Part three of a three-part article on the history of the architecture of Hutton-in-the-Forest, a country house near Skelton in Cumberland [now Cumbria]. Discusses the contribution made by Salvin to the fabric of the building]
Crook, J. Mordaunt. The rise of the nouveaux riches : style and status in Victorian and Edwardian architecture. London : John Murray, 1999.
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
Girouard, Mark. 'Peckforton Castle, Cheshire'. Country Life vol. 138, 29 July 1957 pp. 284-287 [First part of a two-part article on Peckforton Castle in Cheshire designed by Salvin and built between 1845 and 1850]
Girouard, Mark. 'Peckforton Castle, Cheshire'. Country Life vol. 138, 5 August 1957 pp. 336-339 [Second part of a two-part article on Peckforton Castle in Cheshire designed by Salvin and built between 1845 and 1850]
Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, revised and enlarged edition, 1979.
Hussey, Christopher. English Country Houses. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collector’ Club, 1988
Hussey, Christopher. 'Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire'. Country Life vol. 121, 11 April 1957 pp. 704-707 [First part of a two-part article on Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire designed by Salvin in 1831]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire'. Country Life vol. 121, 18 April 1957 pp. 764-767 [Second part of a two-part article on Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire designed by Salvin in 1831]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Mamhead, Devon'. Country Life vol. 117, 26 May 1955 pp. 1366-1369 [First part of a two-part article on Mamhead in Devon designed by Salvin for R. W. Newman and built between 1828 and 1833]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Mamhead, Devon'. Country Life vol. 117, 2 June 1955 pp. 1428-1431 [Second part of a two-part article on Mamhead in Devon designed by Salvin for R. W. Newman and built between 1828 and 1833]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Muncaster Castle, Cumberland'. Country Life vol. 87, 8 June 1940 pp. 570-574 [First part of a two-part article on Muncaster Castle near Ravenglas, Cumberland [now Cumbria] reconstructed in 1860 by Salvin]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Muncaster Castle, Cumberland'. Country Life vol. 87, 15 June 1940 pp. 592-595 [Second part of a two-part article on Muncaster Castle near Ravenglas, Cumberland [now Cumbria] reconstructed in 1860 by Salvin]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Scotney Castle, Kent'. Country Life vol. 120, 613 September 1956 pp. 470-473 [First part of a two-part article on a new house in the grounds of Scotney Castle designed by Salvin in 1835 and built beween 1837 and 1844]
Hussey, Christopher. 'Scotney Castle, Kent'. Country Life vol. 120, 6 September 1956 pp. 526-529 [Second part of a two-part article on a new house in the grounds of Scotney Castle designed by Salvin in 1835 and built beween 1837 and 1844]
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 41, 31 December 1881 pp.809-810
‘Obituary’. Building News vol. 41 23 December 1881 p. 818
‘Obituary’. Building News vol. 41 30 December 1881 p. 893
‘Obituary’. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries vol. 9, 1882 p. 121
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal 1881-82 p. 59
Oswald, Arthur. 'Country house, gardens, old and new, Harlaxton Hall, Lincolnshire'. Country Life vol. 82, 9 December 1937 pp. 374-379 [Designed by Salvin and built in the 1830s]
Oswald, Arthur. 'Encombe, Dorset'. Country Life vol. 133, 24 January 1963 pp. 164-168 [Discusses alterations made by "Enscombe" by Salvin in the 1870s]
Piper, John. 'Decrepit glory: a tour of Hafod'. Architectural Review vol. 87, June 1940 pp. 207-210 [Discusses the Italianate wing designed Salvin for Hafod House near Pontarfynach, Wales in 1833]