F. H. Pownall

Frederick Hyde Pownall (22 August 1831 – 1907)^[1] was a British architect. He was County Surveyor for Middlesex for about 45 years, and designed both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

Life

Interior of St Peter's, London Docks.

He was the son of John George Henry Pownall (1792–1880), a magistrate, landed proprietor and philanthropist, and his wife Amelia Sophia Pownall (née Waterhouse).^[2] He was educated at Stanmore and Rugby, before being articled to the architect Samuel Daukes.^[3]

He was the County Surveyor for Middlesex, for about 45 years, first under the Justices of the Peace and then, from 1888, under the newly established County Council.^[3] He designed the neo-Tudor Middlesex Guildhall built in Parliament Square in 1893,^[4] This was later demolished to make way for the present building of 1912–13 by J. S. Gibson, now housing the Supreme Court.^[5]

Pownall was also responsible for alterations to the Sessions House, Clerkenwell, the rebuilding of Coldbath Fields Prison, and the erection of Banstead Lunatic Asylum.^[3] Amongst the churches he designed were St Peter's, London Docks, Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden and Sacred Heart Church and School, Holloway, all in London, and St Dunstan's at Cheam.^[2]

He retired from his appointments and private practice in 1898, and moved to Twickenham, where he lived until his death.^[3]

Pownall is recorded as having converted to Roman Catholicism at some time before 1885.^[6]

He exhibited six works the Royal Academy between 1852 and 1867.^[7]

Family

His eldest son was the Very Rev. Canon Arthur Hyde Pownall (1857–1935); his other son Gilbert Pownall, designed much of the mosaic work in Westminster Cathedral.^[8]

Works

• St Mary, Carleton-in-Craven, Yorkshire (Anglican), 1858–59.^[9]
• Alterations to the Sessions House, Clerkenwell,^[3] 1860. Pownall refaced three sides of the building, previously bare brick, with Portland Stone.^[10]
• St Philip and St James, Whitton, Twickenham (Anglican), 1862.^[11]
• Expansion of Coldbath Fields Prison, in two phases between 1863 and 1870. Closed in 1885 and demolished.^[12]
• St John Evangelist, Cononley, Yorkshire (Anglican) 1864.^[13]
• St Peter's, London Docks (Anglican), consecrated 1866.^[14]
• Sacred Heart Convent, Hove, 1870–72; now Cardinal Newman Catholic School.^[15]
• Sacred Heart Church and School, Holloway, London (Roman Catholic) 1870.^[16]
• Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden (Roman Catholic), 1873–74.^[17]
• Church and school of St Thomas of Canterbury at Grays, Essex (Roman Catholic), 1886.^[18]
• Middlesex Guildhall, Parliament Square, London, 1893; demolished.
• Banstead Lunatic Asylum.^[3]

References

1. "Henry Pownall, by Eden Upton Eddis". Middlesex Guildhall Art Collection. Judicial Committee of The Privy Council. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
2. "Henry Pownall". Epsom and Ewell History Explorer. Henry Pownall. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
3. "Obituary". The Tablet. 9 March 1907. p. 25.
4. Robbins, Michael (1953). Middlesex. A New Survey of England. Collins.
5. "Architecture: The Supreme Court". Supreme Court. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
6. Gordon 1885, p.12
7. Graves, Algernon (1905). The Royal Academy: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904 5. London: Henry Graves. p. 196.
8. "OBITUARY: THE VERY REV. CANON A. H. POWNALL.". The Tablet. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
9. Kelly's Directory of the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire (1913), extract published in "Carleton in Craven". Forebears. .
10. "Refacing of the Sessions House, Clerkenwell". Building News 6. 1860. Our town readers will remember the dingy, unattractive aspect of the old brick building; and will, doubtless, agree with us that the Middlesex Justices have wisely determined on remodelling its three brick sides so as to render it more like a Public Law Court.
11. Cherry and Pevsner 1990, p.554; the church is described as "small and clumsily picturesque".
12. Philip Temple (editor) (2008). "West of Farringdon Road". Survey of London: volume 47: Northern Clerkenwell and Pentonville. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
13. "CONONLEY, St. John the Baptist (1863–64)". Church Plans Online. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
14. "=History of the Church". St Peter's London Docks Church. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
15. Antram & Pevsner 2013, p. 247.
16. "1870 – Sacred Heart Church & School, Holloway, London". Archiseek.
17. "History of Corpus Christi". Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
18. "St Thomas of Canterbury, Grays". Taking Stock. Retrieved 13 October 2014.

Sources

• Antram, Nicholas; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2013). Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove. The Buildings of England. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18473-0.
• Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1990) [1983]. London 2: South. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071047-7.
• Gorman, W. Gordon (1885). Converts to Rome (2nd ed.). London: W. Swan, Sonnenschein and Co.