William Bidlake
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
, a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and Director of the School of Architecture at Birmingham School of Art
Birmingham School of Art
The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...
from 1919 until 1924.
Several of Bidlake's houses in the Birmingham area were featured in Hermann Muthesius
Hermann Muthesius
Adam Gottlieb Hermann Muthesius , known as Hermann Muthesius, was a German architect, author and diplomat, perhaps best known for promoting many of the ideas of the English Arts and Crafts movement within Germany and for his subsequent influence on early pioneers of German architectural modernism...
's book Das englische Haus ("The English House"), which was to prove influential on the early Modern Movement in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Life and career
Bidlake was born in WolverhamptonWolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, the son of local architect George Bidlake (from whom he received his earliest architectural training), and educated at Tettenhall College
Tettenhall College
Tettenhall College is a mixed independent school located in the Wolverhampton suburb of Tettenhall.-History:The College was founded in 1863 by a group of prominent local businessmen and industrialists, most of who were associated with the Queen Street Congregational Church. Tettenhall Towers was...
and Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
. In 1882 he moved to 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...
where he studied at the Royal Academy Schools
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...
and worked for Gothic Revival architects Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
and Garner
Thomas Garner
Thomas Garner was one of the leading English Gothic revival architects of the Victorian era. His name is usually mentioned in relation to his almost 30-year partnership with George Frederick Bodley...
. In 1885 he won the RIBA
Riba
Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...
Pugin Travelling Fellowship for his draughtsmanship, which enabled him to spend 1886 travelling in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
On returning to England in 1887 Bidlake settled in Birmingham where he set up in independent practice and, from 1893, pioneered the teaching of architecture at the Birmingham School of Art. Famously ambidextrous, his party trick was to sketch with both hands simultaneously.
Bidlake designed many Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
-influenced houses in upmarket Birmingham districts such as Edgbaston
Edgbaston
Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, Moseley
Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...
and Four Oaks, along with a series of more Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
-influenced churches such as St Agatha's
St Agatha's Church, Sparkbrook
The Church of St Agatha is a parish church in the Church of England in Sparkbrook in Birmingham, England.-Background:It was designed by W. H. Bidlake. It is now a Grade I listed building....
, Sparkbrook
Sparkbrook
Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.-Etymology:...
- generally considered his masterpiece.
In 1924, Bidlake married a woman over twenty years younger than himself and moved to Wadhurst
Wadhurst
Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France.-Situation:...
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, where he continued to practise until his death in 1938.
Major built works
- College of Art, Balsall HeathCollege of Art, Balsall HeathThe College of Art on Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, England was built as the first municipal branch School of Art in Birmingham.The College of Art in Balsall Heath subsequently became known as Moseley Secondary School of Art which was closed by the City of Birmingham Education Committee...
, Birmingham (1899) - Garth House, 47 Edgbaston Park Road, EdgbastonEdgbastonEdgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....
, BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(1901) - St Agatha's ChurchSt Agatha's Church, SparkbrookThe Church of St Agatha is a parish church in the Church of England in Sparkbrook in Birmingham, England.-Background:It was designed by W. H. Bidlake. It is now a Grade I listed building....
, Stratford Road, SparkbrookSparkbrookSparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.-Etymology:...
, Birmingham (1901) - Bishop Latimer Church, Winson GreenWinson GreenWinson Green is a loosely-defined inner-city area in the west of the city of Birmingham, England. It is part of the ward of Soho.It is the location of HM Prison Birmingham and City Hospital .The area has a very multi-racial population, with large Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities.R&B singer...
, Birmingham - 100 Sampson Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham (St Agatha's Vicarage) (1901)
- St Andrew's Church, Oxhill Road, HandsworthHandsworth, West MidlandsHandsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...
, Birmingham (1907-9) - St Mary's Church, WythallWythallWythall is a village in the Bromsgrove District, in the north-east corner of the county of Worcestershire, England. It borders Solihull and Birmingham, and has a population of 11,377....
, WorcestershireWorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. Roof and stair turret (nd). The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p338 - St Oswald's Church, Small HeathSmall Heath, BirminghamSmall Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on and around the A45 ....
, Birmingham (1892-9) - St Thomas's Church, StourbridgeStourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
. Apse (1890), north chancel screen (nd). The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p268 - Sparkhill United Church, Stratford Road (1932-3)
- Woodgate, 37 Hartopp Road, Four Oaks, Sutton ColdfieldSutton ColdfieldSutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
(1900) - built for himself - Emmanuel Church, Wylde GreenWylde GreenWylde Green is a residential area within the town of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England in the West Midlands. It was in the county of Warwickshire. The area is in the Sutton Vesey ward.-History:...
, Sutton ColdfieldSutton ColdfieldSutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
(1909)
Sources
- Foster, Andy. Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham. Yale University Press: New Haven & London, 2005 ISBN 0-300-10731-5
- Crawford, Alan (ed.). By Hammer and Hand: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Birmingham. Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, 1984 ISBN 0-7093-0119-7
- Mitchell, Trevor. Birmingham's Victorian and Edwardian Architects Phillada Ballard. ed. Oblong, 2009 ISBN 978-0-9556576-2-7. http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/new-book-celebrates-birminghams-victorian-and-edwardian-architects/.