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Basil Champneys




Champneys was born into a family with a modest income. His father was an Evangelical Vicar of Whitechapel , with the problems of London’s poor to worry about. One of eight children, he attended Charterhouse School , showing a talent for Mathematics and lacking in Drawing skills. In 1861 he studied Classics at Trinity College, Cambridge , where Henry Sidgwick was a Fellow . In 1864 he failed to get the 'first class' degree he had hoped for and he took articles to tudy as an architect with John Prichard, the Surveyor of Llandaff Cathedral . Champneys set up his practice as an Architect in 1867 in Queen’s Square, London, close to the office of William Morris & Co.

Believing that architecture was 'an art not a science' he joined the Art Workers Guild instead of the giving the date of construction, MDCCCLLVIIIIII, and a statement about Cecil Rhodes' donation.

Champneys' correspondence has been preserved in the General Collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library .


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