English architect (1766–1840) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Jeffry WyatvilleRA (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840)[1] was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatville (frequently misspelled Wyattville).[1][2] He is mainly remembered for making alterations and extensions to Chatsworth House and Windsor Castle.
Drawing showing Wyatville's Gothic transformation to the buildings of the upper ward of Windsor CastleDrawing showing the intended changes to the Prince of Wales Tower at Windsor Castle
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Jeffry Wyatt was born on 3 August 1766 in Burton upon Trent, the first surviving child of Joseph (1739–1785) and Myrtilla Wyatt, who died shortly after Jeffry's birth. He was educated at the grammar school in Burton upon Trent. Shortly after the death of his father, Wyatville began his architectural training in his uncle Samuel Wyatt's office.[3] He remained with Samuel until 1792 when he moved from the Midlands to his uncle James Wyatt's office in Queen Anne Street, London.[4] He later completed the gothicAshridge in Hertfordshire after his uncle James's death in 1813. Wyatville sent designs to the Royal Academy every year from 1786 to 1822 and less frequently thereafter.[5] There is no evidence that Wyatville ever undertook foreign travel as part of his education, probably because of the Napoleonic Wars.[6] Wyatville was elected Associate of the Royal Academy on 4 November 1822,[7] then, on 10 February 1824, he was elected a Royal Academician of the Royal Academy, his diploma work being a drawing of the unexecuted design for Brocklesby Hall.[7]
His largest commission, the remodelling of Windsor Castle begun in 1824, when Parliament voted £300,000 for the purpose.[8] The eventual cost was over £1,000,000 (a quarter of which covered furnishing).[8] A competition was held between four invited architects,[9] Wyatville, Robert Smirke, John Nash and John Soane, the architects (with the exception of Soane who withdrew from the competition) submitted their designs, in June Wyatville was announced as the winner. The foundation stone was laid on 12 August 1824 by King George IV[8] at what would become the George IV gateway. Wyatville took up residence in the Winchester Tower in the castle in 1824 and would use it for the rest of his life. Eventually the Upper Ward of the Castle would be reconstructed. It was while at Windsor that he designed Golden Grove at Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire for the 1st Earl Cawdor, completed 1834, and its 'sister house', Lilleshall Hall in Shropshire, for the 1st Duke of Sutherland, completed 1829.[citation needed]
He was knighted by George IV in 1828. He was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 25 February 1840 following his death on 18 February.[10] His memorial stone is in the north-east corner behind the high altar, and bears this inscription:[11]
In the vault beneath are deposited the remains of Sir Jeffry Wyatville R.A. under whose direction the new construction and restoration of the ancient and royal castle of Windsor were carried out during the reigns of George the 4th William the 4th and of Her Majesty Queen Victoria he died February 18th A.D. 1840 in the 74th year of his age.
Longleat, Wiltshire, new stables, orangery, Horningsham Lodge and interior alterations (1800–1811), designs for upper dining room and saloon (1829–30) of the interiors only the Grand Staircase, Green Library and several white marble chimneypieces survived the remodelling of the state rooms by John Dibblee Crace in the 1870s and 1880s
Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, house interiors (c.1801) and (1823) new lodges (1823) and (1832)
Bulstrode Park, Buckinghamshire, design for completing the building, not executed (1812)
Dinton Park, Wiltshire, new house (1812–17) renamed Philipps House in 1916
Towneley Park, Lancashire, alterations to house (1812)
Stubton Hall, Stubton, Lincolnshire, remodelled house and new conservatory (1813)
Ashridge, Hertfordshire, designed by his uncle James Wyatt who died in 1813, he then completed the building including the Bridgewater Monument (c.1814–1839)
Cassiobury House, Hertfordshire alterations to house (c.1814) demolished
Hinton House, Yeovil, Somerset, additions to house (c.1814)
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, alterations to the house including the library, and addition of north wing with Great Dining Room, Sculpture Gallery, Orangery, Theatre, bedrooms, kitchen and service areas, lodges and other estate buildings (1818–40)
Gopsall Hall, Leicestershire, alterations to house and new entrance lodge (1819)
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, additions (1819) and (1830)
Gothic House, Bad Homburg, attributed to him by Friedrich Lotz (1823)
1 'The White House', Charmouth Dorset
Windsor Castle additions, Windsor, Berkshire (1823–40): Roof of grand entrance (1827), roof of St. George's Gateway (1829), King George IV gateway (1838), South Turret on South Terrace (1834), St. George's Hall (c.1827), Queen's Throne Room (1834), Brunswick Tower (1825–34), Chester Tower (1834), Clarence and Victoria Towers (1834), Cornwall Tower (1827), Dining Room Tower (1824), King George IV Tower (1832), Lancaster Tower (1825), Library Tower (1825–26), Octagon Tower (1826), South-East Tower (1829), York Tower (1826), Round Tower (1828–40), North Corridor and Front (1826), the Waterloo Chamber (1830–31), private apartments (1823–32), Royal Stable and Riding House (1839), Entrance Porch to Royal Pews, St. George's Chapel, Restoration of Garter Chapter House (now Albert Memorial Chapel), in Home Park, Windsor: Adelaide Lodge (1830–1), Gardener's Cottage, Gate Lodge (post 1830), Cumberland Lodge, additions (c.1828), Fishing Pavilion (1825), Fort Belvedere, Surrey, additions (1827), Royal Lodge, additions (1823–30), Royal Chapel of All Saints (1825),[16] base for the George III statue on Snow Hill (1829), The Temple of Augustus, created using genuine ancient Roman architectural fragments from Lepcis Magna (1826–29), Bridge Virginia Water (1825)
page 17, For the King's Pleasure: The Furnishing and Decoration of George IV's Apartments at Windsor Castle, Hugh Roberts, 2001, The Royal Collection; ISBN1-902163-04-4
“He was a delightful man, good, simple like a child, indefatigable, eager, patient, easy to deal with to the greatest degree, ready to adopt a wish if practicable, firm to resist a faulty project.” (Handbook of Chatsworth and Hardwick by William S. Cavendish, sixth Duke of Devonshire, 1845, London, privately printed).
