Thomas Worthington (architect)
Thomas Worthington(11 April 1826 – 9 November 1909) was a 19th-century Englisharchitect,particularly associated with public buildings in and aroundManchester.Worthington's preferred style was theGothic Revival.
Early life
[edit]Worthington was born in Crescent Parade,Crescent,Salford,Lancashire,on 11 April 1826. He was the fourth of six sons of aSalfordUnitariancotton merchant, also called Thomas, and his second wife Susanna (1792–1869). He left school, aged 14, and was articled toHenry Bowman,architect (Bowman & Crowther).[1]Before he was twenty he had won two medals: one for a church design (Royal Society of Arts) and one for an essay on "Brick" (Royal Institute of British Architects).[2]After completing his articles in 1847, he assistedWilliam Titewho was buildingCarlisle railway station.On the suspension of this work in 1848, he went on an eight-month study tour to France, Italy and Switzerland accompanied by a friend, Henry A. Darbishire.[3]Their journey took them through Tuscany, Latium and Campania; Worthington's notes and sketches from the trip provided him with a first-hand knowledge of Italian Gothic and Renaissance architecture, which give him inspiration for his own later work.[2][4]
After returning to Manchester in October 1848, Worthington spent a short time gaining experience ofquantity surveying,before opening his own architectural practice inKing Streetthe following year.[4]
Social concerns
[edit]Worthington was strongly influenced by his Unitarian upbringing, becoming committed to social reform and joining numerous learned societies, including theManchester Literary and Philosophical Society,thePortico Libraryand theRoyal Manchester Institution.
Partly as a result of his social concerns, Worthington was often commissioned to design public buildings, ranging frompublic bathsandhospitalstoworkhousesand Unitarian churches. These were often designed in aGothicstyle, not dissimilar to that of his contemporary and rivalAlfred Waterhouse.
Projects in Manchester and district
[edit]- Estate Exchange,Overseers andChurchwardensOffice, 46 Fountain Street (1852–1859); listed Grade II*
- Greengate Baths,Collier Street (1856)
- Mayfield Baths(1857–1940)[5]
- Albert Memorial(1862–1867)
- TheMemorial Hall,Albert Square(1863–1866)[6]
- City Police Courts, Manchester(1867–1873).
- Chorlton Union Workhouse, afterwardsWithington Hospital(1865)
- PrestwichUnion Infirmary, afterwardsDelaunays Hospital(1866–1870)
- The Towers,Didsbury(1868–1872), home to Manchester industrialistDaniel Adamsonfrom 1874, this building was later (from 1920) used by theBritish Cotton Industry Research Association,later called theShirley Institute
- Brookfield Unitarian Church,Gorton(1870)
- Monton GreenUnitarian Church, Monton, Eccles (1875)
- Flowery Field Church, Newton Street,Hyde(1876–1878)
- Ellen Wilkinson High School,Ardwick,formerly Nicholl's Hospital (1879–1880)
- Dovecote,SaleOld Hall (1880)
- Arlington House, Salford, home to Kenworthy's Chambers (1880)
- Peacock Mausoleum,Gorton (1890)
- Diamond Jubilee Memorial Fountain, Albert Square (1896–1897)
- Dunham Road Unitarian Chapel,Altrincham
- Bloom
Other projects
[edit]- Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool
- Garlands Hospital,Carlisle(originally theCumberlandandWestmorlandLunatic Asylum, 1862)
- Royal Albert Edward Infirmary(1870)
- Sutton Oaks (a country house), London Road,Macclesfield,Cheshire(1875)
- Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel,Hampstead,added north aisle and chancel (1885)
- Manchester College,Oxford(1889–1893)
- Royal Bath Hospital,Harrogate
- Royal Infirmary,Halifax
Legacy
[edit]His sons also trained as architects and worked in the family firm, Thomas Worthington & Sons. Hubert, later SirHubert Worthington(1886–1963) trained with SirEdwin Lutyensand was professor of architecture at theRoyal College of Artbefore becoming Slade lecturer in architecture at Oxford University.Percy Worthington(1864–1939), also worked for the firm.[4]
Thomas Worthington lies buried at the churchyard of the Victorian gothicBrookfield Unitarian Church,Gorton,Manchester.
References
[edit]- Notes
- ^Some of his drawings appeared in Bowman andCrowther'sChurches of the Middle Ages;Stewart, Cecil (1956)The Stones of Manchester.London: Edward Arnold; pp. 80-87
- ^abStewart (1956); pp. 80-87
- ^Darbishire was another pupil of Bowman & Crowther, and later designed theColumbia MarketinBethnal Green.
- ^abcArcher, John H. G. (2004). "Worthington family (per. 1849–1963)".Dictionary of National Biography.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65161.Retrieved18 October2009.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^"Mayfield Baths and laundries, Manchester, England: interior. Wood engraving by W.E. Hodgkin, 1858, after B. Sly after T. Worthington".Wellcome Collection.Retrieved10 January2021.
- ^The Memorial Hall does not commemorate Prince Albert but the constitutional changes of 1662 when the reform of theChurch of Englandunder the Commonwealth was undone. For most of its existence it was a base for many local organizations and a venue for meetings.
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