William Lethaby

William Lethaby
All Saints' Church, Brockhampton
Born	(1857-01-18)18 January 1857 Barnstaple,Devon, England
Died	17 July 1931(1931-07-17)(aged 74) Bayswater,Middlesex, England
Occupation	Architect
Buildings	Avon Tyrell House; Melsetter House

William Richard Lethaby(18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an Englisharchitectandarchitectural historianwhose ideas were highly influential on the lateArts and Craftsand earlyModernmovements in architecture, and in the fields ofconservationandart education.

Life and career

Early life

Lethaby was born inBarnstaple,Devon,the son of a fiercelyLiberalcraftsman and lay preacher. After studies at Barnstaple Art Schooland an early apprenticeship with a local architect he found work inLondonin 1879 as Chief Clerk to architectRichard Norman Shaw.Shaw quickly recognized Lethaby's talent as a designer and Lethaby was to contribute significant pieces of work to major Shaw-designed buildings such asScotland Yardin London andCragsideinNorthumberland.

While working for Shaw, Lethaby became involved in theSociety for the Protection of Ancient Buildings,which campaigned to preserve the integrity and authenticity of older buildings against the Victorian practice of 'improving' them to the point of almost completely rebuilding and redesigning them. Through this he became a personal friend ofArts and Crafts MovementpioneersWilliam MorrisandPhilip Webb,becoming a significant and influential member of their circle and acting as co-founder of theArt Workers Guildin 1884,being elected Master in 1911.He was a lifelong socialist.

The Guild was formed from a nucleus drawn from two separate groups, the St George's Art Society, a group of architects who had seen service in the offices of Norman Shaw, includingErnest Newton,Mervyn Macartney,Reginald Barratt,Edwin Hardy,Lethaby andEdward Schroeder Prior,and the Fifteen, founded by the designer and writerLewis Foreman Dayand the illustrator and designerWalter Crane.Prior wrote the prospectus for the Guild. It initially met in Newton's chambers by St George's Church, Bloomsbury.

Independent practice

122–124 Colmore Row,Birmingham

From 1889 Lethaby worked only part-time for Shaw and increasingly practiced independently, designing a wide range of products—books, furniture and stained glass as well as buildings—exploring themysticalsymbolismof medieval and non-European design and architecture: themes he was to elaborate in his first and most famous (though arguably least representative) bookArchitecture, Mysticism, and Myth,published in 1891. This was the first major work of architectural theory to treat architecture as a system of symbols with identifiable philosophical meanings, rather than as abstract systems of aesthetic principles.

Lethaby finally left Shaw's practice in 1892 after the completion of his first major independent architectural project—the country estate ofAvon TyrrellinHampshire,built for Lord Manners. The next decade was Lethaby's most productive in terms of built works as his contacts in theBirminghamarea, where the ideas of the arts and crafts movement were particularly well received, led to series of commissions for buildings in theMidlandsor for Birmingham-based clients. He built Monkwood Cottage,Loughton,Essex, for his friend,Hubert Llewellyn Smith.

London County Council

In 1894 Lethaby was appointed Art Inspector to the Technical Education Board of the newly formedLondon County Council.Here he had a pioneering role in developing education in the fine and practical arts, most notably as the founder of theCentral School of Arts and Craftsin 1896. His most significant innovations lay in breaking down academic barriers between design (perceived as an artistic and intellectual pursuit) and production (widely perceived as the less sophisticated activity of the craftsman or artisan). Lethaby believed that this was an artificial distinction and sought to have both taught as equally valuable parts of the process of producing a high quality end-product.

Academic and pioneer of conservation

In 1901 Lethaby was appointed the first Professor of Design at theRoyal College of Art.This, coupled with his appointments as Principal of the Central School of Arts and Crafts in 1902 and asSurveyor of Westminster Abbeyin 1906 meant that he was increasingly devoted to the academic study of the theory and history of architecture and design. He effectively ceased architectural practice around this time, though he remained an immensely influential figure through his writings and teaching. Lethaby's role as a guide and mentor to German Cultural AttachéHermann Muthesiusduring his investigations into English architecture was to prove particularly significant in the light of Muthesius's later role as an influence on the early pioneers of theBauhaus.

At Westminster Abbey, Lethaby was able to put into practice his belief in sympathetic and historically accurate restoration, conducting extensive research into the history of its structure and design and largely setting the template that the restoration and preservation of historic buildings was to follow for the rest of the century.

Lethaby died on 17 July 1931 atBayswaterinLondon.He was buried in the churchyard ofSt Mary's ChurchatHartley WintneyinHampshire.

Awards

Lethaby was offered theRoyal Institute of British ArchitectsGold Medal award but turned it down. He is the last person to have done so.

Influence and reputation

Lethaby has traditionally been seen by figures such asNikolaus Pevsneras significant primarily in his role as a precursor of the early modern movement.He was the acknowledged theorist behind the work ofErnest Gimsonand the group of architect-craftsmen who worked with him in Sapperton,Gloucestershire,intent to found a "school of rational building".Lethaby's emphasis on "good, honest building"is viewed as making explicit thefunctionalismimplicit in the writings and architecture ofPugin,RuskinandPhilip Webb,with his connection to Muthesius as the means through which this idea was to influence the German modernist pioneers.

Major built works

• Avon TyrrellHouse, nearBurley, Hampshire(1892)
• The Hurst, Hartopp Road,Four Oaks, Birmingham(1894) - largely demolished
• 122–124 Colmore Row(Eagle Insurance Offices),Birmingham(1900)
• Melsetter House, Gatehouse, Lodge and Chapel,Hoy, Orkney(1900)
• High Coxlease House,Lyndhurst, Hampshire(1902)
• All Saints' Church, Brockhampton,Herefordshire(1902)

Major publications

• Architecture, Mysticism, and Myth(1891)
• With Swainson, HaroldThe Church of Sancta Sophia, Constantinople: A Study of Byzantine Building(London: Macmillan, 1894).
• Mediaeval Art(1904)
• Architecture: An Introduction to the History and Theory of the Art of Building(1912)
• Form in Civilization: Collected Papers on Art and Labour(1922)
• Philip Webband His Work(1935)

Further reading

• Pauline Brain (2010). "Some men who made Barnstaple..." Has some information and copies of his work.
• Vaughan Hart (1993). ‘William Richard Lethaby and the Holy Spirit’,Architectural History: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain,vol.36, pp.145-158.
• C. Reynolds (2019).Surveyors of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey 1906–1973. Reports and Letters.Boydell & Brewer. p. 415.ISBN978-1-78327-420-8.</ref> "
• Godfrey Rubens (1986).William Richard Lethaby,London: The Architectural Press

External links

• Works by William LethabyatProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about William Lethabyat theInternet Archive
• Central Saint Martins Museum and Study Collection- The museum has a large collection of works by W.R. Lethaby, which are available to view on theVADSwebsite.
• "First sketches (including initial plan and elevation drawings) for Liverpool Cathedral".Architecture.Victoria and Albert Museum.Retrieved15 March2011.