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Francis Smith of Warwick

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English master-builder and architect

Francis Smith of Warwick (1672–1738) was an English master-builder and architect, much involved in the construction of country houses in the Midland counties of England. Smith of Warwick may refer also to his brothers, or his son.

Francis Smith of Warwick.

Architectural work

The county town of Warwick had been devastated by a fire in September 1694, and the projects involved in its rebuilding gave the Smith brothers their first prominence, which they retained for decades by a universal reputation for scrupulous honesty and competence. Howard Colvin, plotting their known commissions on a map, remarked that nearly all of them lay within a fifty-mile radius of their mason's yard, the "Marble House" in Warwick.

The Marble House, Warwick.

The antiquary Daines Barrington noted in 1784, after viewing several Smith of Warwick houses, found "all of them convenient and handsome" despite changes in taste. Colvin summarised the elements by which a Smith house is easily recognizable: three storeys, with the central three bays emphasized by a slight projection or recession; uniform fenestration with exterior detail confined to keystones, architraves, quoins and a balustraded parapet, which was the most significant modernisation of a formula derived in essence from the late seventeenth-century model typified by Belton House. In the plans there was invariably a hall backed by a saloon in the centre, with a staircase set to one side. In spite of some splendid effects achieved by plasterwork and joinery, Colvin noted that "the spatial effects are simple and unenterprising".

Four exceptional houses did not conform to these conventions. They were Kedleston (demolished and replaced by the celebrated Robert Adam house); Chicheley Hall with William Kent, doubtless in part the design of its owner Sir John Chester, and his virtuosi friends; Stoneleigh Abbey, "a somewhat inept attempt to use a giant order in the grand baroque manner" (Colvin) and Sutton Scarsdale (stripped of its interiors in the 1920s), where Colvin, comparing its assurance with Stoneleigh's "gauche" crowded windows and "leggy pilasters", suspected some intervention by James Gibbs.

Andor Gomme has identified several churches which had Francis Smith’s architectural input, of which four survive in use with Smith’s contribution reasonably intact; namely All Saints, Gainsborough, Lincs. (all except tower), St Nicholas Alcester, Warks. (nave), All Saints, Lamport, Northants. (chancel) and St Botolph's, Sibson, Leics. The first two, with their Corinthian and Doric columns respectively and plastered ceilings, display Smith’s adoption of the Palladian style, as influenced by Gibbs.

Family

William Smith of Warwick (1661–1724), master builder trained as a bricklayer, was brother to Francis Smith: the brothers, who often worked in partnership and with the third brother Richard, were sons of a bricklayer and master builder, Francis Smith, of The Wergs, near Tettenhall, Staffordshire. By the time of William's death in 1724 they had become the most prominent designers and builders of houses in the Midlands.

Francis joined his brother William in the reconstruction of St Mary's Church, Warwick, but later oversaw the project of the new courthouse. Francis served on the Town Corporation in the 1720s and was the head of maintenance during the 1730s until he died in 1738.

William Smith of Warwick (1705–1747) was the next generation in the firm, son of Francis. The business passed to William and David Hiorn.

Craftsmen

He was a major employer, and some of his craftsmen were individually credited on a lead plaque formerly at Sutton Scarsdale:

  • Thomas Eborall, joiner
  • Joshua Needham, plasterer
  • Edward Poynton of Nottingham, stone carver
  • John Wilkes, door furniture

Another craftsman and architect who worked under Smith was William Baker of Audlem, who was employed as a carpenter by Smith at Ditchley in Oxfordshire in 1727, and later developed an extensive architectural practice in Shropshire and Staffordshire A further architect and builder associated with the Smiths was Abraham Hayward, who came from Whitchurch, where Smith had built St Alkmund's Church. The Smiths employed Hayward on the re-building of St Peter at Arches Church, Lincoln, where Hayward was to stay and work as an architect.

Buildings (designed or worked on)

Davenport House, 2010
Locko Park, Derbyshire.

References

  • Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840, 3rd ed. (Yale University Press) 1995, s.v. "Smith, Francis".
  • Andor Gomme (2000), Smith of Warwick. Francis Smith, Architect and Master-Builder

Notes

  1. Quoted in Colvin 1995.
  2. ^ Colvin 1995.
  3. 'Newcastle-under-Lyme: Churches', A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8 (1963), pp. 16–24. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53357. Date accessed: 10 April 2008.
  4. Evans, Lise (26 October 2007). "Lisa Evans looks at the rebuilding of Warwick after the Great Fire of 1694". ICCoventry.co.uk. Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  5. From: 'Thame : Topography, m, anors and estates', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7: Dorchester and Thame hundreds (1962), pp. 160–178. URL: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63775. Date accessed: 10 April 2008.
  6. From: 'The borough of Warwick: Economic and social history, 1545–1835', A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 8: The City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick (1969), pp. 504–514. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16055. Date accessed: 10 April 2008.
  7. John Newman, Nikolaus Pevsner, Shropshire (2006), p. 146.
  8. Colvin H. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840 Yale University Press, 3rd edition London, 1995, 93
  9. "AOTLHG: The Big Houses". Archived from the original on 21 August 2008.
  10. "Buntingsdale Hall". discovershropshire.org.uk.
  11. Nikolaus Pevsner, Elizabeth Williamson, Derbyshire (1978), p. 119.
  12. "Bridgeman Art Library – Image Search".
  13. "MK Council – Archaeology – MKWeb". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  14. "Brewood: Introduction, manors and agriculture | British History Online". british-history.ac.uk.
  15. "Cottesbrooke Hall & Gardens Northamptonshire".
  16. "Noble Northamptonshire". 30 September 2007.
  17. Nikolaus Pevsner, Elizabeth Williamson, Derbyshire (1978), p. 168.
  18. "Attractions, places to visit and things to do in Derby". derby-guide.co.uk.
  19. Historic England. "Ditchley House including flanking pavilions (Grade I) (1251422)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  20. "Dudmaston Hall Shropshire".
  21. Andor Gomme, Smith and Rossi, Architectural History, Vol. 35, (1992), pp. 183–191.
  22. "Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens". AboutBritain.com.
  23. "Kelmarsh Hall, Kelmarsh, Northampton, NN6 9LY – www.statelyhomes.com". Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  24. "Parishes: Kirtlington | British History Online". british-history.ac.uk.
  25. "Lamport Hall :: Historic Houses Association". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  26. "Lamport Hall Northamptonshire".
  27. Cadw. "Leeswood Hall (Grade II*) (567)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  28. "Family and Estate Collections introduction". University of Nottingham.
  29. "Mawley Hall – occupier Rupert Galliers-Pratt".
  30. "Melbourne Hall – You and Yesterday | You and Yesterday".
  31. Nikolaus Pevsner, Alan Brooks, Worcestershire (2007), p. 508.
  32. John Newman, Nikolaus Pevsner, Shropshire (2006), p. 54.
  33. St Mary's Church, Monmouth Archived 6 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  34. From: 'Burton-upon-Trent: Established church', A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 9: Burton-upon-Trent (2003), pp. 107–130. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=12339. Date accessed: 10 April 2008.
  35. Gomme, Andor (2000). Francis Smith of Warwick. Warwick County Libraries: Tyas.
  36. ""Restoration Home" Stanwick Hall (TV Episode 2011)". IMDb.
  37. Joan Thirsk, Peter J. Bowden, Christopher Clay, M. W. Barley, John Chartres, Chapters from the Agrarian history of England and Wales, 1500–1750 (1989), p. 123.
  38. "Parishes: Stoneleigh | British History Online". british-history.ac.uk.
  39. "McCrea, Kenneth D". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  40. "Current Concerns". warwicksociety.org.uk.
  41. "The Wolley Manuscripts, Derbyshire : Documents and Deeds". Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.

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