Hugh May

For the Scottish footballer, seeHugh May (footballer).

Hugh May

Hugh May(1621 – 21 February 1684) was anEnglisharchitectin the period after theRestorationofKing Charles II.He worked in the era which fell between the first introduction ofPalladianisminto England byInigo Jones,and the full flowering ofEnglish BaroqueunderJohn VanbrughandNicholas Hawksmoor.His own work was influenced by both Jones' work, and by Dutch architecture. Although May's only surviving works are Eltham Lodge, and the east front, stables and chapel at Cornbury House, his designs were influential. Together with his contemporary,Sir Roger Pratt,May was responsible for introducing and popularising an Anglo-Dutch type of house, which was widely imitated.

Biography

Hugh May was the seventh son of John May of Rawmere, inMid Lavant,West Sussex,by his wife, Elizabeth Hill, and was baptised on 2 October 1621.He was a first cousin ofBaptist May,Charles II'sKeeper of the Privy Purse.As a member of a Royalist family, Hugh May spent the years ofOliver Cromwell'sCommonwealthin the service of theDuke of Buckingham.May arranged the transport of artworks from the Duke'sYork Houseto Holland, where the Duke was in exile. Here, May was exposed to recent developments in Dutch Classical architecture, and the simple but refined brick-built houses designed byJacob van CampenandPieter Post.May was a friend of the painterPeter Lely,and in 1656 the two of them travelled to Charles II's court in exile.Besides Lely, May's circle includedSamuel Pepys,who called May a "very ingenious man",Roger NorthandJohn Evelyn,whom May assisted in translatingRoland Fréart'sParallel of Architecture.No drawings by May survive, and he perhaps relied ondraughtsmeninstead. He died at the age of 63, and was buried in the church at Mid Lavant.

Houses

At the Restoration of Charles II, May was rewarded for his loyalty by being appointed Paymaster of theKing's Workson 29 June 1660.His architectural commissions came from Court acquaintances, and his first completed work wasEltham Lodge,Kent (1663–1664), forSir John Shaw, 1st Baronet.Built in brick, with a stonepedimentandIonicpilasters, the double-pile house reflected Dutch influence.Cornbury House,Oxfordshire (1663–1668), was built in a similar style, but with aCorinthianpediment, forEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.May's most prominent house wasBerkeley House,onPiccadilly,London (1664–1666, demolished 1733), forLord Berkeley.It was again in the same style, but with the addition of quadrant colonnades, a feature derived from Palladio, and which was again much imitated. AtCassiobury,Hertfordshire (1674, demolished 1922), May added wings to the home of theEarl of Essex,and redesigned some of the interiors, giving the woodcarverGrinling Gibbonshis first major commission. It is possible that May was the architect of the firstBurlington House,forSir John Denham,and he certainly advised theEarl of Burlingtonafter he purchased the house in 1667. He was also involved in construction or alterations atChilton Lodge,Berkshire (1666, rebuilt),Holme Lacy,Herefordshire (1673–1674), andMoor Park,Hertfordshire (1679–1684, rebuilt).

May's houses drew on contemporary Dutch classicism, as exemplified by theMauritshuis(1636–1641), and introduced an economical, yet classically refined, style of house into England. Simpler than the work of Jones, or Pratt, the style was widely imitated, for example atMelton Constable,Norfolk (1665), orRamsbury Manor,Wiltshire (1681–1686). May's and Pratt's developments of Inigo Jones' works influenced their contemporarySir Christopher Wren,and spread to Scotland in the work ofSir William Bruce.

St George's Hall, Windsor Castle, in 1819

Royal Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1819

Rebuilding London

Following theGreat Fire of London,in September 1666, May was one of the three "Commissioners for Rebuilding the City of London", appointed by Charles II. The others were Roger Pratt and Christopher Wren, and along with three representatives of the City of London,Robert Hooke,Edward Jerman and Peter Mills, they were charged with surveying the damage, and promoting methods of rebuilding. The commissioners' work led to two Parliamentary acts for rebuilding, in1666and1670,although May's role in the reconstruction work was limited.

Windsor Castle

In June 1668, May was promoted to Comptroller of the King's Works, and was also appointed Clerk to theRecognizances,an office of theCourt of Common Pleas.In November 1673, he was further appointed Comptroller of the Works atWindsor Castle,where, from 1675, he remodelled the upper ward, adding to the apartments of QueenCatherine of Braganza,and built St George's Hall and the Royal Chapel. Again working with Gibbons, and the painterAntonio Verrio,May created a series ofbaroqueinteriors, the grandest of which, St George's Hall, served as a model for Wren's Great Hall atGreenwich Palace.The hall was demolished in 1826, when SirJeffry Wyatvilleremodelled the castle forKing George IV,although the Queen's Audience Chamber and Presence Chamber survive in altered form.

References

Bibliography

• John Summerson(1993).Architecture in the United Kingdom, 1530–1830(9th ed.). Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-05886-4.
• Howard Colvin(1995).A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840(3rd ed.). Yale University Press.
• Bold, John (2008) [2004]. "May, Hugh".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37749.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)