Hugh May

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Hugh May (1621-1684) was an English architect who was working in the era which fell between the first introduction of Palladianism into England by Inigo Jones and the full flowering of English Baroque under John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. His own work was well-mannered and influenced by both Palladianism and Dutch architecture.

Hugh was the seventh son of John May of Rawmere in Mid Lavant, West Sussex, by his wife, Elizabeth Hill, and a cousin of the Keeper of the Privy Purse, Baptist May. Hugh was appointed Comptroller of the Works to the King in 1668 and remodelled the upper ward, St George's Hall and the Royal Chapel at Windsor Castle in collaboration with the painter Antonio Verrio and the carver Grinling Gibbons. However this work was all swept away when Sir Jeffry Wyatville remodelled the castle for George IV in the early 19th century. May's only surviving works are Eltham Lodge in Kent and the east front, stables and chapel at Cornbury House in Oxfordshire. He also designed Berkeley House in London, carried out some work at Clarendon House, and may have designed the first version of Burlington House. [1]