{"id":34253,"date":"2022-09-06T16:03:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T15:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=34253"},"modified":"2022-09-05T16:59:04","modified_gmt":"2022-09-05T15:59:04","slug":"ihbc-signpost-women-architects-who-helped-shape-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=34253","title":{"rendered":"IHBC Signpost: Women Architects Who Helped Shape England"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Historic England take a closer look at the significant contribution made by women to the field of English architecture over the past 400 years.<\/h3>\n

image: for illustration – Shakespeare Memorial Theatre by Joanna Theobald<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 Women have always influenced domestic design\u2026 But it wasn\u2019t until 1898 that the first professional female architect\u2026was recognised\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

Historic England writes in its Blog:<\/p>\n

Women have always influenced domestic design through their involvement with homes, schools, hospitals and gardens.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t until 1898 that the first professional female architect, Ethel Charles, was recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects.<\/p>\n

Take a closer look at the significant contribution made by women to the field of English architecture over the past 400 years.<\/p>\n

Who was the first woman architect?<\/h1>\n

Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham<\/h2>\n

Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham\u00a0(1632\u20131705) is usually hailed as the first known woman architect. She designed her home, the 1670s\u00a0Weston Park<\/a>\u00a0in Staffordshire.<\/p>\n

She also produced the earliest architectural drawings known to be by a woman, for the rebuilding of\u00a0St Andrew\u2019s church<\/a>\u00a0in Weston-under-Lizard.<\/p>\n

Lady Anne Clifford<\/h2>\n

Previously, Lady Anne Clifford (1590\u20131676) is the first woman recorded to have had hands-on involvement in re-shaping buildings. Her earliest known work includes restoring the\u00a0Church of St Michael<\/a>\u00a0in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria. She also designed changes to one of her family seats, Brougham Castle.<\/p>\n

Pioneering women in architecture<\/h1>\n

Jane and Mary Parminter<\/h2>\n

Jane\u00a0(1750\u20131811)\u00a0<\/strong>and Mary Parminter\u00a0(1767\u20131849) were cousins who built their rural retreat\u00a0A la Ronde<\/a>\u00a0near Exmouth in Devon in 1798. The pair had travelled extensively across Europe, and their passion for eclectic design is reflected in the building.<\/p>\n

The cottage\u2019s central octagon shape is thought to have been modelled on the 6th-century basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. The site features rustic details like intricate shell and feather wall patterns and hidden grottoes.<\/p>\n

Mary Townley<\/h2>\n

Mary Townley (1753\u20131839) was a cousin and pupil of artist Sir Joshua Reynolds.<\/p>\n

he designed several houses, including her own in 1792,\u00a0Townley House Mansion<\/a>\u00a0in Ramsgate, where the Townley family subsequently lived and received many distinguished visitors.<\/p>\n

Sarah Losh<\/h2>\n

Sarah Losh (1785\u20131853) was an expert linguist, member of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society and friend to poets\u00a0William Wordsworth<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Samuel Taylor Coleridge<\/a>. In 1839 she funded and designed the rebuilding of the Church of\u00a0St Mary in Wreay<\/a>, Cumbria.<\/p>\n

Having travelled extensively, Losh based the church\u2019s design on a Roman basilica. This simple building form contrasted with the popular English Gothic style. The inside of the church is embellished with ornate symbolic carvings, making for a unique and imaginative space.<\/p>\n

The first women architects to be recognised<\/h1>\n

Ethel and Bessie Charles<\/h2>\n

In 1898,\u00a0Ethel Charles\u00a0became the first woman to enter the Royal Institute of British Architects, followed by her sister\u00a0Bessie\u00a0Charles\u00a0in 1900.<\/p>\n

However, like many women designers of the period, the sisters could not obtain commissions for large-scale projects that continued to be reserved for men.<\/p>\n

As a result, they focused on domestic architecture, often commissioned by female clients and modest housing projects such as labourers\u2019 cottages.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Scott<\/h2>\n

The Architectural Association in London began to admit women in 1917. One of the first women to study there was Elizabeth Scott (1898\u20131972), who paved the way for many aspiring women architects.<\/p>\n

Scott was the great-niece of architect George Gilbert Scott (who designed St Pancras Station). She was also the second cousin of Giles Gilbert Scott (designer of Battersea Power Station).<\/p>\n

In 1928, just four years after getting her diploma, Scott won a high-profile competition to rebuild the burnt-out\u00a0Shakespeare Memorial Theatre<\/a>\u00a0in Stratford Upon Avon. This was a huge step forward for women in architecture.<\/p>\n

Scott hired women on her projects and worked with the Fawcett Society to promote wider acceptance of women in professions they were not typically associated with. She disliked being labelled a \u2018female architect\u2019 rather than simply an \u2018architect\u2019.<\/p>\n

Women architects with listed buildings<\/h1>\n

The 1930s saw a body of pioneering independent single women who were at least equal to their male counterparts. These included Elisabeth Benjamin, Mary Crowley, (Margaret) Justin Blanco White, Norah Aiton and Betty Scott.<\/p>\n

Other women architects have been jointly credited for major projects alongside men.<\/p>\n

Norah Aiton and Betty Scott<\/h2>\n

After meeting as students at the Architectural Association in the mid-1920s,\u00a0Norah Aiton\u00a0(1904\u20131989) and\u00a0Betty Scott\u00a0(1904\u20131983) practised together, firstly gaining commissions from their families.<\/p>\n

In 1931 they designed the steel-framed\u00a0Aiton Works<\/a>\u00a0in Derby, home to Aiton and Co, owned by Norah\u2019s father. It was the first industrial building of the\u00a0Modern Movement<\/a>\u00a0in Britain and one of the first designed by a female partnership.<\/p>\n

Elisabeth Benjamin<\/h2>\n

Elisabeth Benjamin (1908\u20131999) began her training at the Architectural Association in 1927. She spent a year as a student assistant to architect Edwin Lutyens.<\/p>\n

Benjamin designed\u00a0East Wall<\/a>\u00a0in Buckinghamshire in 1936, an accomplished design in the modern international style of the 1930s. It\u2019s one of only three houses she created and the best surviving example.<\/p>\n

Alison Smithson<\/h2>\n

Alison Smithson (1928\u20131993) designed several buildings with her husband Peter, including\u00a0the\u00a0Economist\u00a0<\/em>Building<\/a>\u00a0in Piccadilly, the\u00a0Garden Building at St Hilda\u2019s College<\/a>\u00a0in Oxford,\u00a0Smithdon High School<\/a>\u00a0in Norfolk,\u00a0Sugden House<\/a>\u00a0in Watford, and buildings at the University of Bath.<\/p>\n

Brenda Walker<\/h2>\n

Brenda Walker was the job architect for\u00a022 Avenue Road<\/a>\u00a0in Leicester, a private house built in 1953\u20134 with Fello Atkinson as a partner in charge.<\/p>\n

Betty Cadbury-Brown<\/h2>\n

Betty Cadbury-Brown\u00a0(1922\u20132002), with her husband H T Cadbury-Brown, designed their own home,\u00a03 Church Walk<\/a>\u00a0in Aldeburgh, in 1963\u20134.<\/p>\n

Mary Medd<\/h2>\n

Mary Medd (nee Crowley) (1907\u20132005) designed\u00a0three houses at Orchard Road<\/a>, Tewin, in 1936, and\u00a0Burleigh School<\/a>\u00a0in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire in 1946\u20137.<\/p>\n

With her husband, David Medd, she designed\u00a05 Pennyfathers Lane<\/a>\u00a0in Harmer Green in 1952,\u00a0St Crispin\u2019s School<\/a>\u00a0in Wokingham in 1953 and\u00a0Woodside School<\/a>\u00a0in Amersham in 1957.<\/p>\n

Sadie Speight<\/h2>\n

Sadie Speight (1906\u20131992) designed the 1938 house\u00a0Brackenfell<\/a>\u00a0in Brampton, Cumbria, with her husband, Leslie Martin.<\/p>\n

Zaha Hadid<\/h2>\n

Born in Iraq in 1950, Zaha Hadid (1950\u20132016) studied mathematics at the American University in Beirut before moving to London in 1972 to attend the Architectural Association School.<\/p>\n

She founded Zaha Hadid Architects in 1979, and the firm\u2019s first major project was the Vitra Fire Station in Germany. They also designed the distinctive London Aquatics Centre, a diving and swimming facility built for the 2012 London Olympics. It is now open to the public.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Hadid was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered the Nobel Prize of Architecture). She was made a Dame in 2012 for architecture services and, in 2015, became the first and only woman to be awarded the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects.<\/p>\n

The role of Historic England<\/strong>
\nMost of these buildings by women architects are protected as listed buildings. You can find out more about them from the?National Heritage List for England.<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more and view the buildings….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Historic England take a closer look at the significant contribution made by women to the field of English architecture over the past 400 years. image: for illustration – Shakespeare Memorial Theatre by Joanna Theobald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34255,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34253\/revisions\/34255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}