John Buckler
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and occasional architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who is best remembered for his many drawings of churches and other historic buildings, recording much that has since been altered or destroyed.
Buckler was born in Calbourne
Calbourne
Calbourne is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. It is located eight kilometres from Newport in the west of the island.The village takes its name from the stream that passes through town, the Caul Bourne...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. At the age of 15 he became clerk to the steward of Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and began a lifelong involvement in the management of the college's London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
estates. After several years working on plans for new buildings, around 1801 he became bailiff
Bailiff
A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...
and collector of rents for Magdalen College in Freeman's Court, London, and in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, and held this post until his retirement in 1849. The work for the college allowed him ample free time, and he also practised as an architect until 1830, designing buildings such as Halkyn Castle
Halkyn Castle
Halkyn Castle is a mansion house in the village of Halkyn, Flintshire, Wales. The house, with its associated stable block, is a Grade II* listed building.-History:...
, Flint (1822–27) for Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Earl Grosvenor
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster, KG was the son of the 1st Earl Grosvenor, whom he succeeded in 1802 as 2nd Earl Grosvenor. He was created Marquess of Westminster in 1831. He was an English Member of Parliament and an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster...
(later created Marquess of Westminster) the tower of the church in Theale, Berkshire
Theale, Berkshire
Theale is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village has many of the attributes of a small town, with a high street lined with shops, pubs and restaurants.- Location :...
(1827–28). Glastonbury Priory, also called Abbey House, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
(1829–30) for J.F. Reeves, and Poll Park, Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
(c. 1828), for William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot
William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot
William Bagot, 2nd Baron Bagot was a British peer.William Bagot was born in London, the eldest son of William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot, and his second wife Elizabeth Louisa St John. He was educated at Westminster School and matriculated at Christ Church College, Oxford on 10 November 1791. He...
, "an early essay in the half-timbered style", according to Howard Colvin
Howard Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin, CVO, CBE , was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field.-Life and works:...
, who suggested that Buckler had a hand in the Gothic remodelling of Blithfield Hall
Blithfield Hall
Blithfield Hall , is a privately owned Grade I listed country house in Staffordshire, England, situated some east of Stafford, southwest of Uttoxeter and north of Rugeley....
, Staffordshire, for Lord Bagot, 1822–23.
Aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.Intaglio printmaking makes marks on the matrix that are capable of holding ink. The inked plate is passed through a printing press together with a sheet of paper, resulting in a transfer of the ink to the paper...
s of Magdalen College in 1797. He followed these in 1799 with an engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
of Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
; the first in a series which included all the cathedrals in England by 1814, as well as many of the collegiate
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
and parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
es. Shortly after 1800 he was commissioned by Richard Colt Hoare
Richard Colt Hoare
Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English antiquarian, archaeologist, artist, and traveller of the 18th and 19th centuries, the first major figure in the detailed study of the history of his home county, Wiltshire.-Career:Hoare was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of...
of Stourhead
Stourhead
Stourhead is a 2,650 acre estate at the source of the River Stour near Mere, Wiltshire, England. The estate includes a Palladian mansion, the village of Stourton, gardens, farmland, and woodland...
to produce ten volumes of drawings of churches and other historic buildings in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and Buckler's grandson described this commission as "deciding his brains for antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
pursuits". It was followed by similar commissions from other antiquarians, such as William Salt
William Salt
William Salt was a banker in London and a genealogist and antiquary in whose memory the William Salt Library in Stafford was founded....
of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, and by the end of his life, by his own account, Buckler had produced around 13,000 drawings of buildings. Many of the buildings Buckler drew had not been previously recorded, and many have since been demolished or substantially altered, so his work is now a valuable source of information on British architectural history. His work was exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
every year from 1798 until 1849, and he became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
in 1810.
John Buckler died in Newington, London
Newington, London
Newington is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey...
, in 1851, two years after his retirement. Forty-two volumes of his sketches are now held by the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
; other places holding collections of his work include the Devizes Museum in Wiltshire, Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
Museum, the William Salt Library in Stafford
Stafford
Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
and the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
His eldest son, John Chessell Buckler
John Chessell Buckler
John Chessell Buckler was a British architect, the eldest son of the architect John Buckler. J.C. Buckler initially worked with his father before working for himself. His work included restorations of country houses and at the University of Oxford.-Career:Buckler received art lessons from the...
(1793–1894), also an architect and artist, wrote several illustrated books on the history of British architecture, and his youngest son, George Buckler (1811–1886), practised as an architect as well.