William Wilkinson (architect)

For other people named William Wilkinson, see William Wilkinson (disambiguation).

William Wilkinson (1819–1901) was a British Gothic Revival architect who practised in Oxford, England.

William Wilkinson
Born	1819[1]
Died	1901[1]
Nationality	British
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Wilkinson and Moore (from 1881)
Buildings	Randolph Hotel, Oxford; Shelswell Park, Shelswell, Oxfordshire
Projects	St Edward's School, Oxford; Norham Manor Estate, Oxford

Family

The Randolph Hotel, Oxford between the Martyrs' Memorial (left) and Taylor Institution (just visible, right)

Wilkinson's father was a builder in Witney in Oxfordshire.^[2] William's elder brother George Wilkinson (1814–1890) was also an architect, as were William's nephews C.C. Rolfe (died 1907) and H.W. Moore (1850–1915).^[1]

Career

Most of Wilkinson's buildings are in Oxfordshire. His major works include the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, completed in 1864. He was in partnership with his nephew H.W. Moore^[1] from 1881.^[3] In his long career Wilkinson had a number of pupils, including H.J. Tollit (1835–1904).^[4]

Works

Churches

In 1841, at the age of only 22, Wilkinson designed a new Church of England parish church, Holy Trinity at Lew, Oxfordshire.^[5] His other work on churches included:

• St Leonard's parish church, Eynsham: restoration, 1856^[6]
• Witney Cemetery: lodge and two chapels, 1857^[7]
• Witney Workhouse: chapel, 1860^[8]
• All Saints' parish church, Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire: Horton family mausoleum, 1866–67^[9]
• St Andrew's parish church, Headington, Oxford: added north aisle, 1880^[10]

Police buildings

Former police station in Witney

Wilkinson moved to Oxford in 1856 and succeeded J.C. Buckler as architect to the local police committee.^[2] Oxfordshire County Constabulary was formed in 1857, and Wilkinson designed several buildings for the new force.

• Watlington police station, 1858–59^[11]
• Witney police station, 1860^[7]
• Woodstock police station, 1863^[12]
• Chipping Norton police station, 1864–65^[13]
• Burford police station, 1869^[14]
• Magistrates' room at Deddington Court House, 1874^[15]

Houses

Wilkinson designed Home Farm on the Shirburn Castle estate, built in 1856–57.^[16] From 1860 he laid out the Norham Manor estate in north Oxford.^[17][18] The estate was slowly developed with large villas, a number of which Wilkinson designed himself.^[19] Wilkinson also designed town houses and small country houses elsewhere in Oxfordshire:

23 Cornhill, Banbury

• Hollybank, Wootton, 1862–63^[20]
• 10, Broad Street, Oxford, 1863^[21]
• Whittlebury, Northamptonshire: farmhouse, 1864^[22]
• The Holt, Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire, 1864^[9]
• 60 Banbury Road, Oxford, 1865–66^[23]
• Bignell House, Chesterton, 1866 (partly demolished)^[24]
• 23 and 24 Cornhill, Banbury, 1866^[25]
• Astrop Park, Northamptonshire: lodge, pheasantry and cottage, 1868^[26]
• Witney Almshouses: restoration, 1868.^[27]
• Brashfield House, Caversfield, 1871–73^[28]
• Shelswell Park, Shelswell, 1875^[29]
• Cowley Place (now St Hilda's College, Oxford): extension, 1877–78^[30][31]

Clergy houses

A number of the houses that Wilkinson designed were for clergy. Most were for the Church of England, but he also designed a presbytery that was built for the Roman Catholic Church.

• Ramsden parsonage, 1862^[32]
• Chadlington parsonage, 1863 (now Chadlington House)^[33]
• Duns Tew rectory, 1864 (now Priory Court)^[34]
• Godington parsonage, 1867 (now the Old Vicarage)^[35]
• Upper Heyford parsonage, 1869^[36]
• Rousham rectory: enlargement and remodelling, 1873.^[37]
• St Aloysius' presbytery, Woodstock Road, Oxford, 1877–78^[38]
• Combe vicarage and Institute (with H.W. Moore), 1892–93^[39]

Educational establishments

Wilkinson designed the library for the Oxford Union, built in 1863.^[40] He designed a number of schools, of which the largest was St Edward's School, Oxford, whose buildings he completed in phases from 1873 until 1886.^[41][42] His other schools include:

• Hailey School, 1848^[43]
• Minster Lovell School, 1870–72^[44]
• Burford Elementary School, 1875–77^[45]
• Thame Grammar School, 1877–79^[46]
• Salesian College, Crescent Road, Cowley, 1880^[47]

Industrial buildings

Late in his career Wilkinson undertook one industrial commission: a new smith shop and foundry for William Lucy's Eagle Ironworks in Jericho, Oxford. This single-storey building was completed in 1879.^[48] It was demolished after Lucy ceased production in England in 2005.^[49]

Publications

• Wilkinson, William (1875) [1870]. English Country Houses: Sixty-one Views and Plans of Recently Erected Mansions, Private Residences, Parsonage-Houses, Farm-Houses, Lodges, and Cottages; with Sketches of Furniture and Fittings; and a Practical Treatise on House-Building (second ed.). London: James Parker and Co.

See also

• List of Oxford architects