Henry Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England in 1816. After studying Merton College, Oxford from 1835 to 1838, he briefly worked in the office of William Butterfield (1814-1900) in London. In the early 1840s he set up his own architectural practice at 4 Adam Street in London. He also had an office the High street, Guildford. By the mid-1840s he had begun designing churches and it is as a church architect that he is primarily known.
Woodyer was an avowed Anglican and an exponent of the Gothic Revival style which informed much of his work as an architect.
Woodyer married in 1851 and the following year his wife died in childbirth. Not long after, he moved with his infant daughter, Hester Fanny, to Grafham Grange near Dunsfold in Surrey where he lived for over 30 years. By 1891 he had moved to Bramley in Surrey. He died at his home, Padworth Croft, near Reading, Berkshire on 10 August 1896
His finest churches are considered to have been St. Mark's Church, Wyke, Surrey (1845-47); Holy Innocents, with school, vicarage and lodge in Highnam, Gloucestershire (1847–52); St Martha-on-the-Hill, Chilworth, Surrey, a Medieval church reconstructed by Woodyer (1848-50); SS Peter & Paul, Foxearth, Essex (c.1848-1860s); St Michael and All Angels, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire (1853-56); ouse of Mercy, Clewer, Windsor, Berkshire (1853-96); St, Michael's Church and College, Tenbury, Worcestershire (1854-56); St Raphael’s Church, Cumberland Road, Bristol (1858-59); St. Mary's Church, Buckland, Surrey (1860); St John the Evangelist, Twinstead, Essex (1860); Christ Church in Reading, Berkshire (1861-62, 1874-75); Christ Church, Whitley, Reading, Berkshire (1861-65); All Saints' in Wokingham, Berkshire, restored (1862-64); St Peter’s, Hascombe, Surrey (1863-64); St. Martin's Church, Dorking, Surrey (1866); and St Michael & All Angels, Waterford, Hertfordshire (1871-72).
His non-ecclesiastical work included Cosford House, Thursley, Surrey (c.1848); Muntham Court, near Findon, West Sussex for Harriet Thynne, Marchioness of Bath (c.1850-51); Twyford Moors, near Winchester, Hampshire for Conway Shipley (1861-62); Cranleigh School in Surrey (1863-65); addition to Wooton House, near Dorking, Surrey (1864); All Saints Hospital in Eastbourne, Sussex (1867-70); Brandford, near Goudhurst, Kent (1872); addition to Holme Park, Sonning, Berkshire for Reverend S. Golding-Palmer (c.1881); addition to Barrow Court, Barrow Gurney, Somerset for Martin Gibbs (1882-91); and Tyntesfield, near Bristol, Somerset for Anthony Gibbs (1885-89)
See also
'Obituary'. The Times 14 August 1896 p.1
Atkinson, Steve, et al. Henry Woodyer: gentleman architect. Edited by John Elliott and John Pritchardt Reading: University of Reading, 2002
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
Eastlake, Charles L. A History of the Gothic Revival London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1872
Elliott, John, Pritchard, John, Steve Atkinson, et al. Henry Woodyer: Gentleman Architect. Reading, Berkshire: University of Reading, 2002
Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, revised and enlarged edition, 1979.
Hall, Michael. ‘Tyntesfield, Somerset’. [Discusses additions and alterations made by Henry Woodyer] Country Life vol. 196, no. 18, 2 May 2002 pp. 96-101
Quiney, Anthony. ‘'Altogether a capital fellow and a serious fellow too': a brief account of the life and work of Henry Woodyer, 1816-1896’. Architectural History vol. 38, 1995, pp. 192-219.
Quiney, Anthony. ‘Altogether a capital fellow and a serious fellow too: a brief account of the life and work of Henry Woodyer’ Architectural History vol. 38, 1995 pp. 192-219
Redfern, Harry. 'Some recollections of William Butterfield and Henry Woodyer'. Architect and Building News vol. 178, 28 April 1944 pp. 57-60 [Third part of a three-part article. The author joined the London office of William Butterfield (1814-1900) in 1877 and worked under Henry Woodyer (1816-1896)]
Redfern, Harry. 'Some recollections of William Butterfield and Henry Woodyer'. Architect and Building News vol. 178, 14 April 1944 pp. 21-22 [First part of a three-part article. The author joined the London office of William Butterfield (1814-1900) in 1877 and worked under Henry Woodyer (1816-1896)]
Redfern, Harry. 'Some recollections of William Butterfield and Henry Woodyer'. Architect and Building News vol. 178, 21 April 1944 pp. 44-45 [Second part of a three-part article. The author joined the London office of William Butterfield (1814-1900) in 1877 and worked under Henry Woodyer (1816-1896)]
Verey, D. ‘The building of Highnam Church.’ [Designed by Henry Woodyer 1849-1851] Country Life 13 May 1971 pp. 116-1162
Worsley, Gils. ‘Highnam fidelity’ [Church of the Holy Innocents, Highnam. Architect (1851) Henry Woodyer] Perspectives on Architecture vol. 1, no. 8, December 1994 pp. 44-47.