Henry Ward (architect)

Henry Ward was born in Peckham, London,1891 England Census1901 England Census the son of tailor Edward John WardLondon, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932 and Susannah Ward.1861 England Census He arrived in Hastings in his late twenties after being articled at architectural practices in London and Paris. Ward briefly worked for and under the guidance of architect Walter Liberty Vernon and during the 50 years he worked in the town he designed buildings from his architectural practice at 8 Bank Buildings.

One of his first designs was the listed Gothic Revival Hastings Town Hall (1881) in Queens Road,{{cite web|title=1066.net|url=http://www.1066.net/Henry_Ward/TownHall.htm|work=Henry Ward A.R.I.B.A. 1854 - 1927: Hastings Town Hall 1880 - one of Ward's first commissions|accessdate=17 March 2011}} which originally included the Police Court with cells. He also designed Bexhill Town Hall (1895). He was responsible for a number of churches in Hastings and around Sussex including the United Reformed Church in Robertson Street, Hastings,{{cite web|title=1066.net|url=http://www.1066.net/Henry_Ward/UnitedReform.htm|work=Henry Ward A.R.I.B.A. 1854 - 1927: United Reformed Church Robertson Street / Cambridge Road|accessdate=17 March 2011}} St Johns, Bexhill, St Stephens, Bexhill, and The Chapel in Priory Road. In 1907 he added the Lady Chapel to the Holy Trinity Church, Hastings.

The commercial buildings he designed include the print-works and offices for Observer Building, Hastings, with its unique for the area terracotta-glazed frontage produced by the brick company Ibstock Hathernware.{{cite web|title=Hathernware.co.uk |url=http://www.hathernware.co.uk/company/history.htm |work=Company history |accessdate=17 March 2011 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702012647/http://www.hathernware.co.uk/company/history.htm |archivedate=2 July 2011}} As of December 2019, the building is being brought back into use under the stewardship of Jess Steele. Besides this, he designed a number of stores around South East England for the Plummer Roddis chain of department stores,{{cite web|title=1066.net|url=http://www.1066.net/Henry_Ward/Plummers.htm|work=Henry Ward A.R.I.B.A. 1854 - 1927: The Plummer Roddis Building - 1927|accessdate=17 March 2011}} the Buchanan Hospital women's wing at St Leonards-on-Sea,{{cite web|title=1066.net|url=http://www.1066.net/Henry_Ward/Buchanan.htm|work=Henry Ward A.R.I.B.A. 1854 - 1927: The Mason Wing - Buchanan Hospital 1907|accessdate=17 March 2011}} the listed tiles and bar at the Havelock Public House,{{cite web|title=LynnPearson.co.uk |url=http://www.lynnpearson.co.uk/Sussex.pdf |work=Sussex |accessdate=17 March 2011 |page=5 |year=2003 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004091432/http://www.lynnpearson.co.uk/Sussex.pdf |archivedate=4 October 2011}} the Buccaneer Public House in Eastbourne,{{cite web|title=1066.net|url=http://www.1066.net/Henry_Ward/other.htm|work=Henry Ward A.R.I.B.A. 1854 - 1927: More examples of Henry Ward's work|accessdate=17 March 2011}} as well as changes to the front of the Queen Victoria Hotel in St Leonards-on-Sea.

A few days after his death in 1927, the Plummer Roddis department store (now Debenhams) was opened and was regarded as the finest design he had produced and remains as the largest and most imposing building in the Town Centre of Hastings near to his original offices. In his home town and often working with awkward sites, Ward created a range of architectural styles of innovative construction, and in the words of the Obituary published by RIBA:

"Many monuments to the ability and artistic skill of the late Mr Ward remain to keep alive the memory of a man who was widely known and respected throughout Hastings and in professional circles throughout the country."

• Sedlescombe Congregational Chapel, Sedlescombe (1879 – attributed){{cite book|last=Elleray|first=D. Robert|title=Sussex Places of Worship|year=2004|publisher=Optimus Books|location=Worthing|isbn=0-9533132-7-1|page=49}}
• Hastings Town Hall, Queens Road - Police Court & cells (1881)Historical Hastings Wiki: [http://wiki.historymap.info/Town_Hall Town Hall], accessdate: 23 January 2020
• Robertson Street United Reformed Church, Hastings (1884){{cite book|last=Elleray|first=D. Robert|title=Sussex Places of Worship|year=2004|publisher=Optimus Books|location=Worthing|isbn=0-9533132-7-1|page=29}}
• St John's Congregational Church, Bexhill-on-Sea (1897){{cite book|last=Elleray|first=D. Robert|title=Sussex Places of Worship|year=2004|publisher=Optimus Books|location=Worthing|isbn=0-9533132-7-1|page=4}}
• St Stephen's Church, Bexhill-on-Sea (1898)
• Bexhill Town Hall, Bexhill-on-Sea (1898){{cite book|url= https://www.bexhillmayorsoffice.website/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Town_Hall_and__Bexhill_Mayor_History.pdf |title=Bexhill Town Hall|first=Julian|last=Porter|publisher=Rother District Council|year=2020|access-date=24 March 2021}}
• South Street Free Church, Eastbourne (1903){{cite book|last=Elleray|first=D. Robert|title=Sussex Places of Worship|year=2004|publisher=Optimus Books|location=Worthing|isbn=0-9533132-7-1|page=22}}
• Redlake Congregational Church, Ore (1903; demolished 1978)
• Buchanan Hospital (Elizabeth Mason Wing), St Leonards-on-Sea (1907)Historical Hastings Wiki: [http://wiki.historymap.info/Buchanan_Hospital Buchanan Hospital], accessdate: 23 January 2020
• Lady chapel at Holy Trinity Church, Hastings (1907)
• Brightling Mission Church, Hollingrove (1909)
• F.J. Parsons Printworks (Observer Building), Hastings
• Buccaneer public house, Eastbourne
• Changes to frontage of Queen Victoria Hotel, St Leonards-on-Sea
• Refit of the bar and the tile murals at Havelock public house
• Plummer Roddis (Debenhams) department store, Hastings (1927)
• Alterations to The Gothic House, Western Road, Brighton for Plummer Roddis ({{circa}} 1920){{cite book|last1=Antram|first=Nicholas|last2=Morrice|first2=Richard|title=Brighton and Hove|series=Pevsner Architectural Guides|publisher=Yale University Press|location=London|year=2008|isbn=978-0-300-12661-7|page=110}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Henry Ward ARIBA}}

• [http://www.1066.net/henry_ward Images of buildings designed by Henry Ward]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060620094819/http://www.stomp.uk.com/ Campaign website to save the Observer Building in Hastings]

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Category:1854 births

Category:1927 deaths

Category:Date of birth missing

Category:Associates of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Category:19th-century English architects

Category:20th-century English architects

Category:People from Peckham

Category:Architects from London