Robert Dennis Chantrell (14 January 1793 – 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster.
Robert Dennis Chantrell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 January 1793 |
| Died | 4 January 1872 (aged 78) Norwood, London |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Buildings | Leeds Minster |
Early life
editChantrell was born in Newington, Southwark, London.[1] His father, Robert (1765-1840) had interests in a range of businesses that took the family to Europe, settling in Bruges in 1808.[1] He was a pupil in the office of Sir John Soane from 1807 to 1814, where he learnt the principles of Classical architecture.[1] In 1816, Chantrell moved to Halifax where he assisted the architect William Bradley.[1] In March 1819, Chantrell won the competition to build the Leeds Public Baths and he opened a practice in Leeds.[1]
Career
editAt the beginning of his career Chantrell designed a string of classical buildings. The Public Baths were single storey with double columns flanking the main door.[2] In May 1819, Chantrell won the competition to design a new hall for the Leeds Philosophical Society, also in a classical design.[2] He went on to design the South Market which included a Neo-classical temple.[2] However, by 1825 he fell out of favour with prominent townsmen.[2]
Architectural work
editSurviving buildings by Chantrell include:
- alterations to the Leeds Library, including galleries (1821–36)
- completion of Rudding Park House (c.1824)
- alterations to St Mary-the-Virgin, Hunslet (1826)
- St Stephen's Church, Kirkstall (1828–9)
- Emmanuel Church, Lockwood (1828–29)
- All Saints, Netherthong (1828–9)
- St Peter, Morley (1829–30)
- St Matthew, Holbeck (1829–32)
- partial reconstruction of All Saints, Pontefract (1832–33)
- St Peter-at-Leeds or Leeds Parish Church (now Leeds Minster) (1837–41)
- Christ Church, Skipton (1837–39)
- Christ Church, Lothersdale (1838)
- St Wilfred, Pool-in-Wharfedale (1839)
- the steeple of Holy Trinity, Boar Lane, Leeds (1839)
- the neo-roman tower of the St. Salvator's Cathedral in Bruges, (Belgium) (1839)
- the neo-Norman bellcote of St John the Baptist, Adel (1839)
- St David, Holmbridge (1839–40)
- St Lucius, Farnley Tyas (1840)
- Holy Trinity, Batley Carr (1841–42)
- St Paul, Shadwell (1841–42)
- St Mary, Honley (1843)
- Holy Trinity, Leven (1843)
- St Paul, Denholme Gate (1843–46, with Thomas Shaw)
- All Saints, Roberttown (1844–46, with Thomas Shaw)
- Holy Trinity Church, Cowling (1845)
- St Mary the Virgin's Church, Middleton, Leeds (1846–52)
- the tower of St Paul, Halifax (1847)
- St Andrew, Keighley (1847–48)
- St Paul, Armitage Bridge (1848)
- St George's, New Mills (1829–30)
Surviving buildings restored by Chantrell include:
- St Catherine, Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire (1852)[3][4]
Gallery
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Sources and literature
edit
- Howard COLVIN, Biographical Dictionary of English Architects 1660–1840, John Murray, London, 1954
- Nikolaus PEVSNER & Enid RADCLIFFE Yorkshire: The West Riding, 1959, 2nd edition 1967, Penguin Books, London
- Derek LINSTRUM, West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture, Lund Humphries Publishers, London, 1979, ISBN 0-85331-410-1
- Andries VAN DEN ABEELE & Christopher WEBSTER, Architect Robert D. Chantrell en de kathedraal van Brugge, 1987, Bruges
- Christopher WEBSTER, R.D. Chantrell, architect: his life and work in Leeds 1818–1847, Leeds, 1992
- Christopher WEBSTER & Andries VAN DEN ABEELE, A portentous mass of bastard romanesque frippery: an early ecclesiological export, Leeds, 1999.
- Susan WRATHMELL, & John MINNIS, Leeds, Pevsner Architectural Guides, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2005, ISBN 0-300-10736-6
- Christopher WEBSTER, R. D. Chantrell (1793–1872) and the architecture of a lost generation, Reading, Spire Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-904965-22-0.
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 Webster, Christopher (2011). Building a Great Victorian City: Leeds Architects and Architecture 1790-1914. Northern Heritage Publications. pp. 99–101.
- 1 2 3 4 Webster (2011). Building a Great Victorian City. pp. 101–102.
- ↑ Yorkshire Gazette, Saturday 17 April 1852 p7 col.2: "The re-opening of St Catherine's Church, Barmby Moor"
- ↑ Historic England. "Church of St Catherine (1083879)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 August 2017. Note: restoration mistakenly attributed to J.B. Atkinson by Historic England