Joseph Clarke (1819–1888) was a British Gothic Revival architect who practised in London, England.
Contents
Career
In 1839, Clarke exhibited an antiquarian drawing with the Oxford Society for Promoting the Study of Gothic Architecture. He was made an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1841 and a Fellow of the RIBA in 1850. He became a member of the Ecclesiological Society in 1853. He served as Diocesan Surveyor to the sees of Canterbury and Rochester, and from 1871 to the see of St Albans. He was also Consultant Architect to the Charity Commissioners.
In 1852, Clarke published Schools and Schoolhouses: a series of Views, Plans, and Details, for Rural Parishes. In this he condemned the set of model plans issued by the Committee of Council on Education as "unsuitable in every way" and stressed the advantages of employing an architect for every new school, rather than relying on a standardised design:The plan should always be formed to the site, and reference had to local materials; the design of the school, again, should conform to the materials. Brick and stone each require their separate uses, and so their several applications. The book included plans of twelve schools he had built in Kent, Essex and Oxfordshire, at Monks Horton, Lydd, Little Bentley, Coggeshall, Clifton Hampton, Coopershall, Wellesborough, Brabourne, Boreham, Foxearth, Hatfield and Leigh (Essex).
He drew up ambitious plans for an extension to the House of Charity in Greek Street Soho, including a chapel, refectory, dormitories and cloisters, although only the chapel (begun 1862) was built.
His association with commissions in Oxfordshire make it possible that he was the "Joseph Clarke, esq., architect" who presented plans for restoring the gatehouse at Rye, the intended scene of the Rye House Plot, to the Oxford Architectural Society in May 1842.
Clarke exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1845 and 1870. The exhibition catalogues give his address as 1, Lincoln's Inn Fields, from 1845 to 1850; and 13, Stratford Place, thereafter.
He is buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery.
Work
Buildings
St Mary and St Nicholas parish church, Littlemore, Oxfordshire: chancel and tower, 1848
St Mary's parish church, Garsington, Oxfordshire: restoration, 1849
St Paul's parish church, Culham, Oxfordshire: rebuilding, 1852
Culham College, Culham, Oxfordshire, 1852 (now the European School, Culham)
Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Training Institution, Fishponds, Gloucestershire (in partnership with John Norton of London), 1852 (later St Matthias' College)
All Saints Church, Cockermouth, Cumbria, 1854
Holy Trinity parish church, Ardington, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire): tower and spire, 1856
St John the Baptist's parish church, Wateringbury, Kent: restoration and south aisle, 1856
St Alban's parish church, Rochdale, Lancashire, 1856 (demolished 1973)
St Mary's parish church, Slaugham, West Sussex: restoration, 1857–1860
St Mary the Virgin parish church, Farnham, Essex, 1858–59
St Stephen's parish church, Congleton, Cheshire, 1860
St Luke's parish church, Heywood, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester), 1860–1862
St James' parish church, Aston, Oxfordshire: restoration, 1862
Writings
A Series of Views, plans, and Details, for Rural Schoolhouses. London: J. Masters. 1852.