Ernest Berry Webber

Webber was born at 47 St. Paul's Road, Walworth, Surrey.London Metropolitan Archive; Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681–1930, Reference Number: COL/CHD/FR/02/2764. He was the youngest of three children, and the second son to Henry Webber, a shopkeeper, and his wife, Clara.1901 England Census, Class; RG13; Piece: 375; Folio: 29; p. 50.

Ernest attended the London School of Building and studied under Arthur Beresford Pite. After leaving, he became articled to Robert Atkinson, and in 1914 he moved to the office of Vincent Harris, a prolific designer of public buildings."Young Architect's Triumph: Design for new Manchester Art Gallery selected", Lancashire Daily Post, 11 June 1925, p. 4. The war intervened and Webber served his four-year service in France."Young Architect's Triumph", The Liverpool Echo, 10 June 1925, p. 8. After the war, he resumed his apprenticeship with Harris where his work focused on preparing designs for competitions; he continued under Harris for 11 years.

File:Southampton-CivicCentre-South.jpg, Southampton (1929–39)]]

Webber became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1923 and was able to set up his own practise three years later.{{sfn|Neal|2014|p=128}} At the age of 29, he won a competition to design a new art gallery and museum in Manchester, to be constructed on the site now occupied by Piccadilly Gardens. The design would also have doubled as a memorial to casualties of the First World War. The competition, which had over 100 entrants, some of whom were already well-established architects, was held in 1925 by Manchester Council to fill the space left by the demolition of Manchester Royal Infirmary.[https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/how-piccadilly-gardens-could-looked-15541219 "This is how Piccadilly Gardens could have looked"], Manchester Evening News, 15 December 2018. A reporter for the Lancashire Daily Post listed the win as Webber's "first great success" and the moment when he jumps from "comparative obscurity to a position of high distinction in his profession." Despite the success, the project was cancelled due to the post-war financial crash and the Great Depression of 1929.

In 1929 Webber won a competition to design the Guildhall Civic Centre in Southampton,[https://www.architecture.com/image-library/ribapix/image-information/poster/guildhall-civic-centre-southampton-one-of-the-doors-into-the-assembly-hall/posterid/RIBA73802.html "Guildhall, Civic Centre, Southampton: one of the doors into the assembly hall"], Royal Institute of British Architects, accessed 5 April 2020. which required his relocation to the city as the construction period was to last for 10 years, which he was to oversee. It was built to a cost of £620,000"Well known architect: New resident in Eastbourne", The Eastbourne Gazette, 28 December 1938, p. 17. and completed in 1939. Pevsner's Hampshire: South describes the guildhall as "the most ambitious civic building erected in the provinces in the interwar years".{{sfn|O'Brien|Bailey|Pevsner|Lloyd|2018|p=614}} The building was designated as a Grade II* listed building in 1980.{{NHLE|num=1092036|desc=Southampton Civic Centre|accessdate=5 April 2020}} Alongside this, he completed the new King Edward VI School, also in the city.{{sfn|O'Brien|Bailey|Pevsner|Lloyd|2018|p=672}}

File:Peterborough Town Hall 1.jpg (1929–33)]]

In 1928 Webber won a competition to design Peterborough Town Hall. The foundation stone was laid in June 1929 and it was officially opened in October 1933.[https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-peterborough-evening-telegraph/20170706/282888025716379 "Blue Plaque Stories"], The Peterborough Evening Telegraph, 6 July 2017, p. 11. The building was designed in the English Baroque style.{{sfn|O'Brien|Pevsner|2014|p=623}} A reporter for the Architect and Building News described the design as being from someone who was "at the top of his form".Quote from the Architect and Building News; Neal, p. 128. The building was completed and opened in 1933.{{efn|Nikolaus Pevsner, although appreciating Webber's efforts to place Peterborough Town Hall in its context, did not wholly approve of his chosen architectural style; "The choice of the style at so late a date may be deplorable, but the building is tactfully fitted into the street architecture of Peterborough. The architect has resisted the temptation to set his work up as a monument to compete with the cathedral".{{sfn|O'Brien|Pevsner|2014|p=623}}}}[https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/asset-library/imported-assets/ListOfHeritageAssetsInPeterborough2019.pdf "Local List of Heritage Assets: Draft for consultation 2016"], Peterborough City Council, p. 60.

File:Dagenham civic center london.jpg (1937)]]

Webber designed the Dagenham Civic Centre, built from 1936 to 1937.{{cite web |url=https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Infosheet48-Dagenham-Civic-Centre.pdf |title=London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local Studies Information Sheet No.48 : Dagenham Civic Centre |website=Lbbd.gov.uk |accessdate=19 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305141322/https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Infosheet48-Dagenham-Civic-Centre.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead }} The Civic Centre's foundation stone was laid by Harry Snell, 1st Baron Snell on 11 July 1936.[http://www.britishpathe.com/video/dagenham-civic-centre "Dagenham Civic Centre 1935"], Pathé News, accessed 8 April 2020. Pevsner describes the centre as "Dagenham's best building by far".{{sfn|Cherry|O'Brien|Pevsner|2007|p=150}} It is constructed in the Modernist style, which Webber also used for the adjacent fire and ambulance station.{{efn|Webber's fire station was demolished and a replacement constructed on the site in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/news/2016-news/dagenham-crews-move-into-brand-new-fire-station/|title=Dagenham crews move into brand new fire station|publisher=London Fire Brigade|website=www.london-fire.gov.uk|date=26 January 2016}}}} The Civic Centre was opened on 16 October 1937 by Sir Kingsley Wood."Tribute to Local Government", The Nottingham Evening Post, 16 October 1937, p. 5. An extension was added to the civic centre in 1964 by Webber's firm after the architect's death.{{sfn|Cherry|O'Brien|Pevsner|2007|p=152}}

File:Hammersmith Town Hall in daylight - geograph.org.uk - 800796.jpg (1939–40)]]

Also in 1936, Webber won a competition to build the parliamentary buildings in Southern Rhodesia.[http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/18845/Journal%20of%20SAAI-December-1936-001-jpeg.pdf?sequence=18&isAllowed=y "The South Africa Architectural Journal"], p. 426. The following year, he undertook the designs for Hammersmith Town Hall in King Street, Hammersmith, London, which were completed in 1939. Pevsner calls the town hall "an unfortunate building", regretting both the loss of the "picturesque character" of the area which occurred as a result of its construction, and the "ill-judged" extensions of the 1970s.{{sfn|Cherry|Pevsner|2002|p=208}} It became a Grade II listed building,{{NHLE|num=1079785|desc=Hammersmith Town Hall|accessdate=4 March 2020}} together with the Civic Centre in Dagenham,{{NHLE|num=1064422|desc=Main Building and Council Chamber of Dagenham Civic Centre|accessdate=5 April 2020}} in 1981.

Webber was appointed by the Royal Navy as the consulting architect for improvements to their barracks, HMNB Portsmouth and HMNB Devonport, in 1947."Architect for Barracks Modernization", The Hampshire Telegraph and Post, 3 October 1947, p. 1.

File:Portsmouth Guildhall 2014.JPG

In 1955 Webber undertook a £1.5million rebuild of the Portsmouth Guildhall, which had received substantial bomb damage during the war.{{sfn|Groombridge|2017|p=??}} It was reopened by Elizabeth II on 10 June 1959."Guildhall rises from rubble", Hampshire Telegraph and Post, 22 March 1957, p. 3.

Webber married Gladys {{nee}} Bellis Roberts (1896–1984) on 22 November 1922 at St Mary and Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754–1932, London Metropolitan Archives, p. 89. They had a son named Geoffrey.{{sfn|Neal|2014|p=126}} On 25 June 1929 Webber was given the Freedom of the City of London. He was a president of the Eccentric Club during the 1940s,"The Variety Stage",The Stage, 21 April 1949, p. 3. and in 1960 he was made a companion of the entertainment charity, the Grand Order of Water Rats."The Grand Order of Water Rats", The Stage, 7 January 1960, p. 13.

Webber retired to Brighton in the 1950s.{{sfn|Neal|2014|p=128}} He was taken ill at his house, 2 Arundel Terrace, and died shortly after at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on 19 December 1963. His probate was set at £18,611 (£{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|18611|1963|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation/year|UK}} adjusted for inflation).{{inflation-fn|UK}}

{{notes}}

{{reflist}}

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}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Ernest Berry}}

Category:1896 births

Category:1963 deaths

Category:20th-century English architects