Arthur Ashpitel (1807–1869), was a British architect.
Ashpitel was the son of the architect William Hurst Ashpitel, born in Hackney, London in 1807. He was educated at Dr. Burnet's school in Hackney, until an accident crippled him for life. He was trained by his father to the architect's profession, and in 1842 he set up on his own account. He built the church of St. John's at Blackheath, and that of St. Barnabas at Homerton, as well as schools and private houses.
In 1850 he entered into partnership with John Whichcord Jr.. Together they designed and superintended the erection of baths and washhouses at Swansea, Maidstone, Lambeth, and elsewhere, and published a pamphlet entitled Observations on Baths and Wash-houses (1851)[1] They also designed churches, private houses, and the Ophthalmic Hospital and Kent Infirmary at Maidstone. They turned their attention to the improvement of dwellings for the labouring classes, and, for a Committee, erected a block of dwellings for artisans at Lambeth.They promoted the idea of living in flats in a publication called Town Dwellings: an essay on the erection of fireproof houses in flats. Ashpitel was also responsible for design of the "Wellington Testimonial" a clock tower erected at the southern end of Southwark Bridge, but removed soon after as an obstruction to traffic.[2]
In 1853 he left England in the company of David Roberts, R.A., and lived for some time in Rome. An attack of malaria, suffered in Piedmont further damaged his health. In 1855, he dissolved the partnership with Whichcord, but continued to acccept commissions.[2]
Following his Roman studies he exhibited two drawings at the Royal Academy, one called Restoration of Ancient Rome, and another called Rome As It Is.
Ashpitel was a prolific writer who made many contributions to magazines, and the transactions of learned societies. He first appeared in print at the age of sixteen, with a poem published in the Weekly Literary Magnet' . In 1836 he published The Reign of Humbug : a Satire and in 1841 a pamphlet, entitled A few Facts on the Corn Laws, defending the agricultural interest. He revised Nicholson's Work on Handrails and Staircases and several other professional works for the publisher John Weale. He contributed biographies of architects to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and papers to the Royal Institute of British Architects. and was a regular contributor to Notes and Queries and the Owl.[2]
Ashpitel died on 18 January 1869, having left a valuable collection of vases and books to the Society of Antiquaries of London, and his two drawings of Rome to the nation.
"Ashpitel, Arthur". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.