John Dando Sedding [also known as J.D. Sedding] was born in Eton, Berkshire, England on 13 April 1838 and from 1858 to 1863 was articled to George Edmund Street (1824-1881) along with his elder Brother Edmund Sedding (1836-1868). In 1865 he worked in partnership with Edmund in Penzance, Cornwall. Following the death of Edmund he moved to Bristol in 1868 and then, in 1874, to London where he established an office at 18 Charlotte Street. In 1880 relocated the office to 447 Oxford Street, next door to Morris & Co.
In 1872 Sedding married Rose Catherine Tinling (?-1891), the daughter of Edward Douglas Tinling, canon of Gloucester, who was to provide him with his first important commission, St Clement's Church in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1872. The interior decoration of the church was designed by William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown.
Subsequently the design and restoration of churches was to become a mainstay of Sedding's practice.
By 1880 Sedding had an office in Oxford Street, London. In 1888 he moved his personal residence from Charlotte Street, London to West Wickham in Kent where he began to develop an interest in gardening and garden design.
In addition to his work as an architect, Sedding was also a decorative designer. His designs included wallpaper, embroidery, art metalwork and church furnishings. He exhibited on numerous occasions at the Royal Academy in London between 1875 and 1891. He also exhibited at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.
Sedding was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1874. He was a founding member of the Art Workers Guild in 1884 and was Master of the AWG in in 1886-87. He was the author of two books Garden-Craft Old and New (1891) and Art and Handicraft (1893), both published posthumously.
Sedding died suddenly on 7 April 1891 at Winsford Vicarage in Somerset, where he was engaged on restoration work.
A biographical file on John Dando Sedding is available on request from the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Notable among the new churches designed by Sedding were St Clement's in Boscombe, Dorset (1871–73); St Augustine of Canterbury in Highgate, London (1884); St Dyfrig's in Cardiff, Wales (1885–93; St Elwyn's in Hayle in Cornwall. (1886–88); Our Most Holy Redeemer in Clerkenwell, London (1887); All Saints' in Falmouth, Cornwall (1887–90); St Peter's Church in Ealing, London (1889); Holy Trinity in Chelsea, London (1888-90). Churches restored or for which he designed additions included St Mary's Church in Stogumber, Somerset (1872–75). All Saints in Holbeton, Devon (1885–87); SS Peter and Paul in Ermington, Devon (1889–90); and St Mary's Church in Stamford, Lincolnshire (1890)
See also
Source of Images
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North West of England: a handbook. etherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2006
Button, Roger. Arts and Crafts Churches of Great Britain: Architects, Craftsmen and Patrons.. Settle, North Yorkshire: 2QT Ltd. (Publishing) Ltd., 2020
Cooper, John Paul and Wilson, Henry. ‘The work of John Dando Sedding, architect’. Architectural Review (London) vol. 3, 1897 pp.35-41, 60-77, 125-133, 188-194, 235-237
Cooper, John Paul and Wilson, Henry. ‘The work of John Dando Sedding, architect’. Architectural Review (London) vol. 4, November 1898 pp. 33-34
Cooper, John Paul and Wilson, Henry. ’The work of John Sedding’ in Edwardian Architecture and its Origins. Edited by Alastair Service. London: Architectural Press, 1975 pp. 258-279 [Based on a series of articles that originally appeared in The Architectural Review (London) in 1897 and 1898]
Cram, Ralph Adams. 'John D. Sedding: some considerations of his life and genius'. Architectural Review (Boston) vol. 1, 1891, pp. 9-11
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
Jordan, Kate. ‘A benign paterfamilias: John Dando Sedding, his family and followers’. Ecclesiology Today no. 57, 2019, pp. 3-20.
A memorial of the late J.D. Sedding,compiled by the Architectural Association ; with a short sketch of his life by H. Wilson. London: B.T. Batsford, 1892
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 60, 11 April 1891 pp. 285, 298
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 60, 18 April 1891 pp. 314, 317
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects Proceedings new series, vol. 8, 1892 pp. 109-110
‘Obituary’. The Times 13 April 1891 p. 7
Pite, Beresford. 'A review of the tendencies of the modern school of architecture: the influence of J. D. Sedding'. Royal Institute of British Architects Journal voil. 8, 1900-01 pp. 85-87
Roberts, H. V. Molesworth. 'John Dando Seddiong (1838-91'. The Builder vol. 184, 9 January 1953 pp. 87-88
Sedding, John. D. Art and Handicraft. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. Ltd, 1893
Sedding, John D. Garden-craft old and new. With memorial notice by the Rev. E.F. Russell. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. 1891
Sedding, John Dando. Suggestions for House Decoration. London: T. Knight & Son, 1880
Snell, Paul. The Priest of Form: John Dando Sedding (1838-91) and the Language of Late Victorian Architecture. PhD thesis, University of Manchester, 2006
Snell, Paul. ‘John Dando Sedding and sculpure in architecture’ in Ruskin and Architecture. Edited by Rebecca Daniels and Geoff Brandwood. Spire, 2003 pp. 320-353
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 p. 19