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Sheila Binns' W.H. Crossland: An Architectural Biography chronicles the career of an architect at work through the Victorian era, a time of rapid expansion in the building of our civic environment. Her account of that career takes the reader behind the scenes of commissioning, conception, design and construction of a wide range of building types. Houses large and small, churches, civic and commercial halls and offices, educational and medical buildings, all featured in Crossland’s portfolio, along with entries in seven major competitions (in three of which he was successful), which still left him sufficient spare time for artistic work: he exhibited paintings in sixteen annual exhibitions at the Royal Academy. His clients ranged from those whose limited funds depended on grants and subscriptions to those, like Thomas Holloway, the patent medicine magnate, whose wealth knew no budgetary limits.
The chronologically-structured narrative is divided into chapters related to the succession of offices from which Crossland worked, in Halifax, Leeds (where he had an office at the Corn Exchange), Huddersfield, London and Egham. Commissions starting in one office were often carried on to the next, so that following the development of a particular project entails a certain amount of cross-referencing between chapters. The reader may find a stock of paper slips for annotated book-marks useful for keeping track of his projects and referring to the relevant illustrations. A useful list of all the projects by name and date ("Architectural Commissions") is included at the end, but for in-depth study it would be helpful if this included other key life-story events.
The text is consistently clear, to the point and impeccably researched. The illustrations of the interiors of St Stephen’s Church, Copley, near Halifax, which had the benefit of the philanthropist Edward Akroyd's financial support (see p. 59), and the magnificent Great Hall in Rochdale Town Hall (see p. 114), taken from reports in The Ecclesiologist and The Builder, are spectacular examples both of Crossland's vision and the illustrator’s art, and leave no doubt as to the breathtaking majesty of these spaces.
From artwork by Crossland himself, the author selects the aerial view of the proposal for Akroydon (see p. 17), the workers' village that was George Gilbert Scott's "first venture into town planning, with Crossland as 'the local architect'" (15), to exemplify his artistic skill. It is indeed a technically excellent and realistic rendering of this solid block of housing dropped into a rural landscape, although it shows no apparent relationship between the two starkly contrasting environments. It does less than justice to the gentle environment, with its generous tree-lined green park centre, which was actually created there. A more positive impression of skill in the art of presentation is gained from the perspective drawing of Rochdale Town Hall (see p. 45). This is impressive in its photographic realism, with just a touch of exaggeration of verticality, and the enhancement of modelling by the suggestion of (rather improbable) sunlight on the north face of the building. Verticality did appeal to Crossland, witness his 200-foot spire at Trinity church, Ossett. When the town hall's clocktower was rebuilt by Alfred Waterhouse after a fire, its proportions were moderated, and it became 50 feet shorter.
Rochdale Town Hall today.
The synopsis tells us, “The book is intended to be of interest to architects, architectural historians, and anyone interested in the built environment, nineteenth history and intriguing personal stories.” Architectural historians will certainly appreciate the meticulous research into a hitherto undervalued career. As for those in practice, every architect is interested in how other architects work, and how they balance the demands of their profession with those of their social and domestic lives. They will find the glimpse into Scott’s office, where Crossland began his training, very revealing: design-factory conditions and teamwork were required to produce the great number of buildings constructed in the style of Gothic Revivalism. However, apart from a brief partnership with John Philpot Jones (1830-1873) for the express purpose of one competition entry, there is no direct evidence of Crossland employing such a team. His ability to find the time to win two major competitions in one year, 1872, while simultaneously designing or administrating the construction of at least half a dozen other demanding projects, as well as visiting France, Belgium and other countries for inspiration, was extraordinary. How he managed all this remains a mystery, which may encourage further research.
Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey, toda6.
Binns' account might help to dispel any lingering distrust of Victorian architecture. To the mid-twentieth century mind, it had all seemed very imitative - an agglomeration of arcane historical details, assembled into apparently random accumulations of gables, turrets, towers, balustrades and hand-crafted carving. This book should help to challenge this prejudice, and promote a more balanced view - and architects should bear in mind that it will certainly be read by many potential clients, anyone who has an interest in the history and current condition of our built environment, and who will expect their architect to be at least as well informed as themselves.
As for Crossland himself, the book reveals that he was well aware of his abilities, and felt no need to adopt any defensive “artistic” persona. Described as “…a fine, quiet man, with a dreamlike dignity in him” (xxiii), he was loyal to his clients, and firm, but appreciative and, indeed, formally polite, to his Clerk of Works. Always willing to give credit where credit was due, at the opening of Rochdale Town Hall, he replied to a toast to the architect by attributing "much of the success of his work to the fact that he had under him the greatest talent in England” (110). The sadness of the loss of his wife, Lavinia, in 1876, was alleviated by the continuation and deepening of his relationship with Ruth Eliza Hatt, with whom over the next sixteen years he developed a mutually supportive partnership. Ruth became a successful and well known actress, as Ruth Rutland, until her untimely death from typhoid fever in 1892.
Crossland's fortunes declined, and, one way and another, this is not a book with a happy ending. However, it records in considerable detail the highly productive career of a talented architect, "a true disciple of his master, George Gilbert Scott, and of the principles of Augustus Pugin whose principles Scott so thoroughly absorbed" (xxiii). His buildings epitomise the high point in the nineteenth century eclectic combination of the historical forms and motifs which the society of the time recognised as “Architecture,” and there is a great deal of happiness to be gained from appreciation of the beauty of his major achievements.
Links to Related Material
- Gothic Revival Architecture in Britain, the Empire, and Europe
- Medieval English Gothic Architecture — Backgrounds to the Gothic Revival
- Architectural Trades and Professions
- Changing Patrons of Victorian Architecture: From Lord Boodle to "Sugar, Soap, Grocery and Textiles"
Bibliography
Binns, Sheila. W.H. Crossland: An Architectural Biography. Pbk. Cambidge: The Lutterworth Press, 2022. ISBN: 9780718895488. £32.50
1 December 2023