William White (1825-1900) has been described by Mark Girouard as 'One of the most interesting and least known of Victorian Gothic revivalists', most probably because, in spite of his many innovative designs, he did not enter the competitions for major public buildings that brought fame and fortune to his contemporaries, such as George Edmund Street. Nor did White produce any books to promote his architectural theories. However, this thesis has established the existence of a corpus of his writings, encompassing various topics as well as architecture, published in contemporary journals. White attached great importance to the subject of colour, both structural and applied, and this is examined in relation to both his secular and ecclesiastical projects. White's standing as a church architect---an obituary mentions more than 250 ecclesiastical schemes---may have militated against his subsequent reputation, for he, himself, believed that there was less opportunity for innovation in the design of churches. This thesis demonstrates that White's designs for parsonage houses and schools reveal him as being in the vanguard of the development of the Queen Anne style. As a restorer of both ecclesiastical and secular buildings, White can be seen as sensitive to earlier work but cognisant of the demands of modern life. His argument that the continued function of a building is necessary for its preservation is used today by English Heritage. Although, like most of his contemporaries, White was sceptical of iron as a building material, he was innovative in his use of concrete and of double-glazing. White's demands for local materials that could be well handled by local builders anticipated the ideas of Philip Webb and the Arts and Crafts movement. This thesis establishes a corpus of White's work from Aberdeen to Cornwall, and in South Africa and Madagascar, which demonstrates his contribution to nineteenth-century architecture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:441259 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Hunter, Gillian Margaret |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1446026/ |
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