Giles Gilbert Scott was born in Hampstead, London, on 9 November 1880. He came from a long architectural tradition. His father was the architect George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (1839-1897) and his grandfather was the architect George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). Furthermore his younger brother, Adrian Gilbert Scott (1882-1963), became an architect as did his son, Richard Gilbert Scott. On leaving school in 1899 Giles Gilbert Scott was articled to the architect Temple Lushington Moore (1856-1920) for three years. He also worked as an assistant to Thomas Garner (1839-1906). Scott shot to fame in 1903 when, at the age of 22, he won the competition to design Liverpool's new Anglican Cathedral. The same year he set up in private practice. He subsequently designed numerous religious buildings usually in his own interpretation of the Gothic style.
During World War One, he served as a Major in the Royal Marines and was responsible for building and maintaining Britain's's sea defences on the English Channel coast. He resumed his architectural practice after the war.
Scott was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1912 and was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (PRIBA) in 1933-35. He was knighted for his services to architecture in 1924. Scott died in London on 8 February 1960.
Scott's outstanding commission as an architect was Liverpool Anglican Cathedral deigned in 1903 and completed in 1980, twenty years after his death. Notable among his other works were Nanfans, Priestwood, Buckinghamshire (1903); the Roman Catholic Church of the Annunciation in Bournemouth, Hampshire, now Dorset (1905-06); conversion of a tithe barn into a church - Church of the Holy Ghost, Midomer Norton, Somerset (1907-13): St Joseph, Cromer Road, Sheringham, Norfolk (1908–10); the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady, Star of the Sea & St Maughold Church in Ramsay, Isle of Man (1909-12); the Roman Catholic St Joseph's Church, Sheringham, Norfolk (1910-36); Grey Wings, Ashtead, Surrey, with his brother, Adrian Gilbert Scott (1913); the Anglican Church of Saint Paul in Stoneycroft, Liverpool (1913-16); War Memorial Chapel, Church of St Michael, Chester Square, Belgravia, London (1920-21); Charthouse School Chapel in Godalming, Surrey (1922-27); Memorial Court, Clare College, Cambridge (1923-34);Ampleforth Abbey and College in Ampleforth (1922-60); Chester House, Clarendon Place, Paddington, London, for himself (1925-26); the Roman Catholic Our Lady and St Alphege Church, Bath, Somerset (c.1927); St Alphege, Bath. Somerset (1927–30); St Francis, Terriers, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (1928–30); Memorial Chapel Bromsgrove School, Bromsgrove, Wocestershire (1928-39); William Booth Memorial Training College, Camberwell, London (1929); St Francis of Assisi Church , High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (1929-30); Whitelands College in Putney, London (1929-31); Phoenix Theatre Charing Cross Road, London, with Bertie Crewe (1930); Cambridge University Library (1930-33); Battersea Power Station with J. Theo Halliday (1930-34); Cropthorne Court, Maida Vale, London (1930-37); St Andrew, Luton, Bedfordshire. (1931–32); Deneke Building and Chapel, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (1931-33); the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Oban, Scotland (1931-51), St Alban, Golders Green, London (1932–33); Clergy House for St Francis of Assisi Church, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (1933); Guinness Brewery , Park Royal, London (1933-35); Waterloo Bridge, with engineers Rendal, Palmer & Tritton, (1934-35); Main Building, University of Southampton, Soyjampton, Hampshire, with Gutteridge & Gutteridge (1935); an annex to Bodleian Library in Oxford (1935-46); the Electricity House Building in Bristol (1935-51); Hartland House, St Anne's College, Oxford (1938); Chamber of the House of Commons, Westminster, London (1945-50); Bankside Power Station (now the Tate Modern art gallery) in London (1947-60); North Tees Power Station, Billingham, County Durham (completed 1949); Rye House Power Station, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (c.1952); St Leonard's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, witg Adrian Gilbert Scott (1953-61); the Roman Catholic Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Kensington, London (1954-59); Chapel of Trinity College, Toronto, Canada (1955); St Mark's Church , Biggin Hill, London (1957-59; and the Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King, Plymouth, Devon (1961-62), built after Scott's death.
In addition, Scott designed the iconic Model K6 red telephone box (1935) and Waterloo Bridge, London (1935-40). He also designed war memorials for Hanmer, Flintshire (1919); Hawarden, Flintshire (1919-20); Clapham, London (1920); Belgravia, London (1920-21); Holy Trinity Church, Trefnant, Denbighshire (1921); Beaumont College, Old Windsor, Berkshire (1921); All Saints' Church, Wigan, Lancashire (1925); Preston, Lancashire (1923-27); and at St John the Baptist Church, Penshurst, Kent (1947).
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Source of Images
Bagenal, Hope. 'The Cathedral Church of Christ Liverpool'. Architectural Review vol. 50, 26 July 1921 pp. 13-26 [Designed by Scott in 1904 and completed in 1978]
Birnstingl, Hope. 'The Liverpool Cathedral'. Architectural Forum vol. 44, May 1926 pp. 281-288 [Designed by Scott in 1904 and completed in 1978]
Budden, Lionel B. 'Liverpool Cathedral'. Architects' Journal vol. 60, 10 September 1924 pp. 371-391 [Designed by Scott in 1904 and completed in 1978]
Burdett, Osbert. 'Our greatest memorial building'. Architects' Journal vol. 65, 22 June 1927 pp. 897-904 [A description of Charterhouse Chapel in Godalming, Surrey, designed by Scott vand concecrated on 18 June 1927]
Cambridge University Library, 1400-1934: with a description of the new building opened by His Majesty the King, 22 October 1934, and an account of the new science buildings of agriculture, botany, physiology and Zoology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1934 [Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and built between 1931 and 1934]
Clist, Hubert. 'Some notes on the Charterhouse Memorial Chapel' Architect and Building News vol. 116, 23 July 1926 p. 101
Cotton, Vere Egerton. The Book of Liverpool Cathedral. Liverpool; Liverpool University Press, 1964 [An expanded version of Cotton's book Liverpool Cathedral: the Official Handbook of the Cathedral Committee. Liverpool: Littlebury Bros., 1924]
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
Dorsfield, Wilberforce. 'The Cathedral Church of Liverpool'. Architectural Record vol. 31, January 1912 pp. 47-43
Dougall, Wesley. 'Liverpool's two cathedrals'. The Builder vol. 154, 14 January 1938 pp. 54-58 [Compares and conntrasts the Anglican and Roman Catholic Cathedrals in Liverpool]
Goodhart-Rendal, H. S. 'The new chamber'. Architect and Building News vol. 181, 12 Hanuary 1945 pp. 19-21 [Goodhart-Rendall's proposals for the redesign of the chamber of the House of Commons]
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian Architecture: a Biographical Dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Green, Arthur.'The erection of Liverpool Cathedra'. Architects' and Builders' Journal vol. 35, 7 February 1912 pp. 143-146 [First part of a two-part article]
Green, Arthur.'The erection of Liverpool Cathedra'. Architects' and Builders' Journal vol. 35, 21 February 1912 pp. 194-198 [Second part of a two-part article]
Hamilton, Alec. Arts & Crafts Churches. London: Lund Humphries, 2020
Harwood, Elain. Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the Interwar Years. London: Batsford, 2019
Harwood, Elain. Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938-1963. London: Batsford, 2021
Hastings, J. M. 'The traditional seating in the House of Commons'. Architectural Review vol. 97, February 1945 pp. 34-38 [Discusses the seating arrangement designed by Scott for the new chamber of the House of Commons which had been destroyed by enemy bombing in 1941].
Hastings, Maurice. 'The House of Commons'. Architectural Review vol. 108, September 1950 pp. 161-181 [Discusses the modifications made by Scott to Charles Barry's original design of the chamber of the House of Commons, which was rebuilt following its destruction by bombing during World War Two]
Lewis, David. Modernising Tradition: the Architectural Thought of Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960). DPhil thesis, University of Oxford, 2014
Little, Bryan. 'Sir Giles Gilbert Scott'. Architect and Building News vol. 217, 20 April 1960 pp. 511-516
Marriott, Basil. 'Coronation decorations. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's designs for the city'. The Builder vol. 184, 9 January 1953 p. 89 [Street decorations designed by Scott in London for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]
Moore, Rowan and Ryan, Raymund. Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron Transforming Giles Gilbert Scott. London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 2001
‘Obituary’. Architectural Association Journal vol. 75, May 1960 pp. 230-231
‘Obituary’. Architectural Review vol. 127, 1960 pp. 227, 424-426
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 198, 19 February 1960 pp. 345-346
‘Obituary’. RIBA Journal vol. 67, April 1960 pp. 193-194, 221-222
Oswald, Athur. The Guildhall restored' Country Life vol. 116,23 December 1954 pp. 2246-2248 [A report on the new room designed by Scott for the Guildhall in London. The previous roof had been destroyed in 1940]
Reilly, C. H. 'Liverpool Cathedral: the second section'. Architects' Journal vol. 71, 26 February 1930 pp. pp. 352-354 [A report on progress being made in the building of the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Christ Liverpool, designed by Scott, construction of which began in 1904]
Reilly, C. H. 'The work of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, R.A.'. Architects' journal vol. 61, 7 January 1925 pp. 13-35
Reilly, Charles Herbert. Representative British architects of the present day. London: B.T. Batsford, 1931 [Capter XI. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott pp. 142-155]
Scott, Giles Gilbert and Thomas, John. Giles Gilbert Scott speeches, interviews, & writings. Shrewsbury: Twin Books, 2018
Shaw, Caroline. Our Lady and St Alphege, Bath: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's Little Gem of a Church. Bath: Our Lady and St Alphege, 2012
Stamp, Gavin. ‘Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in Oxbridge’. Twentieth Century Architecture no.11, 2013 pp.30-51
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: International Architect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 p. 65
Worthington, Hubert. 'Sir Giles Gilbert Scott: an appreciation' RIBA Journal vol. 67, April 1960 pp. 193-194