John Hayward (architect)

The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, designed by John Hayward

John Hayward (1807–1891) was a Gothic Revival architect based in Exeter, Devon, who gained the reputation as “the senior architect in the west of England”.

Biography

John Hayward was born in London on 26 September 1807, the son of a ‘house and ornament painter’, and related by marriage to Sir Charles Barry, the designer of the Palace of Westminster, with whom he served as pupil.^[1]

He was an accomplished painter and draughtsman; by 1826, he was exhibiting at the Royal Academy and, by 1834, he had left Barry and set up practice in Cathedral Yard, Exeter, Devon.^[2]

Hayward was official architect of The Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society,^[3] which meant that all new designs for the churches in the Exeter Diocese passed through him for approval, and a member of Cambridge Camden Society, later The Ecclesiological Society.

So popular was his work on local churches that St Andrew’s, Exwick^[4] was described by The Ecclesiologist in July 1842, as the “best specimen of modern church we have yet seen.”^[5]

This accolade soon led to further work; in Scotland, the Marchioness of Lothian commissioned Hayward to design St. John’s, Jedburgh in 1844,^[6] and in Oxfordshire he designed St. James' Church in Little Milton, Oxfordshire, to which he added the west tower in 1861.

But probably his most famous design was for The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.^[7] which opened in 1868 as a practical memorial to Prince Albert, and is the largest museum in the city.

Whilst many of his designs were for religious use, he also designed schools and worked on other buildings, including The Hall, Pembroke College, Oxford,^[8] which Nikolaus Pevsner described as "the most ambitious of all halls except Wolsey's" at Christ Church College,^[9] and Exeter Prison^[10] on New North Road, Exeter, which was based upon the plans of the new model prison at Pentonville.

Hayward died on 7 May 1891. His son Pearson Barry Hayward^[11] worked under him, but died before his father in 1888;^[12] their practice was known as Messrs Hayward & Son.

Work

Work, including restoration, undertaken by John Hayward and his practice includes:

In Cornwall

All Saints, Herodsfoot, Cornwall ^[13]
All Saints, Tuckingmill, Camborne, Cornwall
Holy Trinity, Carnmenellis, Cornwall
St Cleder, St Clether, Cornwall

In Devon

St Andrew's, Exwick, Devon
St Mary, Bickleigh, Devon ^[14]
St Mary’s, Bicton, Devon^[15]
St Michael’s, Sowton, Devon
St Mark, Dawlish, Devon
St David, Exeter, Devon
St Mary Arches, Exeter, Devon
St Andrew, Halberton, Devon
St Gregory, Harpford, Devon
St John the Baptist, Holcombe Burnell, Devon
St Thomas of Canterbury, Kingswear, Devon
St Mary Magdalene, Monkton, Devon
St Michael, Mumsbury, Devon
St Michael, Beer, Devon^[16]
St Mary, Appledore, Northam, Devon
St Mary, Rockbeare, Devon
St Mary, Whimple, Devon
St Mary the Virgin, Woolfardisworthy, Mid Devon, Devon
St Swithun, Sandford, Devon
St Peter, Uplowman, Devon
St John The Evangelist, Tipton St John, Devon ^[17]
St Philip and St James, Ilfracombe, Devon ^[18]
All Saints, Okehampton, Devon
St Bridget, Bridestowe, Devon
Holy Trinity, Buckfastleigh, Devon
Holy Trinity, Burrington, Devon
St Eustace, Tavistock, Devon
St Peter, Twitchen, Devon
St Mary's, Uffculme, Devon ^[19]
The Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him who hung thereon, Crediton, Devon^[20]
St Michael's and All Angel's, Alphington, Devon^[21]
St Luke's College, Exeter University^[22]
The Exeter Diocesan Training School, now part of St. Luke's Campus
All Hallows on the Wall, Exeter (since demolished)
Queen Elizabeth School, Crediton, Devon^[23]
Hele's School, Exeter, Devon^[24]
The New Buildings, Blundell's School, Tiverton, Devon^[25]
Blundell's School chapel, Tiverton, Devon
The High School for Girls, Exeter, Devon. Renamed in 1912 as The Maynard School.^[26]^[27]
Bradfield House, Uffculme, Devon^[28]
All Saints chapel, Bradfield, Uffculme, Devon
The Board School, Dawlish, Devon ^[29]
Holcombe Court, Holcombe Rogus, Devon

In Jersey

St Mark, Saint Helier, Jersey
St Luke, Saint Saviour, Jersey
St Georges, Saint Ouen, Jersey ^[30]
St Ouen, St Ouen, Jersey
Victoria College, St Helier, Jersey
Natwest Bank, Library Place, St Helier, Jersey

Elsewhere

St Michael's, Milverton, Somerset^[31]
St Peter, Walgrave, Northamptonshire
St James, Little Milton, Oxfordshire^[32]
The Hall in the Chapel Quad, Pembroke College, Oxford
The New Buildings of 1846 (since renamed the Robert Stevens building), Pembroke College, Oxford

Gallery

Victoria College at St Helier, Jersey
Bank building in Library Place, Saint Helier, Jersey – built in 1873 by John Hayward for Jersey Banking Company
Blundell's School new buildings completed in 1882
The Hall, Chapel Quad, Pembroke College, Oxford
St Mary, Appledore, Devon
All Saints at Herodsfoot, Cornwall
St. St Thomas of Canterbury, Kingswear, Devon
North Cloisters, St Luke's Campus
Bradfield House, the South front and service wing, added by Hayward in the 1860s
Holcombe Court, the North and West fronts were added by Hayward in 1863.^[1]
St Mary, Bicton, Devon. Built for the Rolle family in 1850.
St James' Little Milton, Oxfordshire.