George Basevi
Elias George Basevi FRS (1 April 1794 – 16 October 1845) was an English architect. He was the favourite pupil of Sir John Soane.
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[edit] Life
Basevi was the youngest son of a City of London merchant, also named George Basevi . He was educated at the Reverend Dr Burney's school at Greenwich, and then trained professionally with John Soane, after which he spent three years studying in Greece and Rome. In 1821 he became the first surveyor of the Guardian Assuarance Company, a post he held until his death.
The next year he designed the church of St Thomas at Stockport and then, in 1823, St Mary's, Greenwich, both in the neo-classical style, and both for the commissioners of the Church Building Act.[1]
He designed Belgrave Square for the developers William and George Haldimand; it was built between 1825 and 1841. Success there led to his appointment as Surveyor to the Trustees of Smith's Charity at Brompton, and to the adjoining Thurloe estate. At first his duties for the Smith's Charity estate were utilitarian, but in 1832 the bankruptcy of some tenant nurserymen freed eight acres for development, and between 1833 and 1845 he worked with the builder James Bonnin to develop Pelham Crescent, Pelham Place, part of Pelham Street and Egerton Crescent.[2] He also designed the houses in Thurloe Square, off the Brompton Road, for the Thurloe estate.[3]
Basevi built two Gothic churches in Chelsea, St Jude and St Saviour,and another, Holy Trinity at Twickenham Green. From 1834-36, he largely rebuilt the church of St Andrew, Hove, which had been in ruins since the collapse of its tower some years earlier.[4] The church at Eye in Northamptonshire was also rebuilt to Basevi's designs; it was opened in 1847, two years after his death: the steeple was finally added in 1857.[5][6] He also used the Gothic style at almshouses in Stamford and Ely, and at Coulsdon rectory, Surrey. He carried out some work to Balliol College, including a Gothic ceiling for the chapel and was invited to design a whole new frontage, but the plans were never carried out, due to the intervention of a faction amongst the fellows who commissioned an alternative set of plans from Pugin.[1]
Other work included the stables at Bretton Hall in Yorkshire, Bywell Bridge in Northumberland, the Entrance Hall and Dining Room at Painswick House for his brother-in-law William Henry Hyett, and the remodelling of Gatcombe Park for the economist David Ricardo.[7] In 1834 he made extensive alterations and additions to the Middlesex Hospital and later built a new medical school and operating theatre there.[1]
In 1835 he won the competition to design a museum for Cambridge University, funded by a bequest from Viscount Fitzwilliam, with an imposing design in the Corinthian style. Work on the Fitzwilliam Museum was continued after Basevi's death by C.R. Cockerell.
He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1843.
He died on 15 October 1845, aged 51, after falling through an opening in the floor of the old bell chamber of the west tower of Ely Cathedral while inspecting repairs. His remains were buried in Bishop Alcock's chapel at the east end of the cathedral under a monumental brass.
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- ^ a b c The Annual Register. 87. London: J. Dodsley. 1845. pp. 304-5. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Q21dAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA305&dq. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50011 retrieved 19 May 2010
- ^ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50009 retrieved 19 May 2010
- ^ http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=365514&mode=quick Retrieved 29 May 2010
- ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 27, 1847, p.646
- ^ http://www.churchplansonline.org/retrieve_results.asp?search_args=A%3DBASEVI%2C+George%3A+b.+1794+-+d.+1845+of+London%7Ca%3D2888 Retrieved 21 May 2010
- ^ http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-133037-gatcombe-park-minchinhampton Retrieved 19 May 2010
