James William Wild

James William Wild
Wild at the start of the Lepsius expedition in Egypt, 1842. Drawing by J.J. Frey.
Born	(1814-03-09)9 March 1814 Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Died	7 November 1892(1892-11-07) (aged 78) Sir John Soane's Museum, London
Nationality	British
Occupation	Architect

James William Wild (9 March 1814 – 7 November 1892) was a British architect. Initially working in the Gothic style, he later employed round-arched forms. He spent several years in Egypt. He acted as decorative architect to the Great Exhibition of 1851, and designed the Grimsby Dock Tower, completed in 1852.^[1] After a considerable break in his career he worked on designs for the South Kensington Museum, and designed the British embassy in Tehran. He was curator of the Sir John Soane's Museum from 1878 until his death in 1892.

Early life and career

Wild was born in Lincoln,^[2] the son of the watercolourist Charles Wild.

Wild was articled to the architect George Basevi from 1830. After his apprenticeship, he concentrated on Gothic design, and was entrusted with the design of a country church. He was subsequently engaged on many other church projects, and six churches had been built to his design before 1840.

Christ Church, Streatham

Commissioned to build a new church at

In July 1841 Wild built a temporary pavilion seating 2,850 at Liverpool for the "Grand Dinner of the Royal Agricultural Society".[7]

Egypt

In 1842 he went to Egypt to work as an architectural draughtsman for the Egyptologist

Wild returned to Britain in 1848, having travelled via Constantinople, Italy and Spain.

In 1869 Wild drew up designs for chancery buildings for the British Embassy at Alexandria and for the British legation at Tehran. Only the latter was built,^[5] completed in 1876.^[13] His supervising assistant in Tehran was Caspar Purdon Clarke, one of the South Kensington architectural staff, who also, in 1872, went to Alexandria to oversee the mural decorations at Wild's church there.^[11]

Later life

Wild was curator of the Sir John Soane's Museum in London from 1878 to his death in 1892. He made substantial changes to the galleries at the rear of the Soane Museum to improve daylighting, but many of these have since been reversed, as more recent restorations have tried to bring the museum closer to its appearance in Soane's day.

His extensive manuscripts, including drawings from his travels, are now housed in the Griffith Institute of the University of Oxford.^[2] The Victoria and Albert Museum also holds a selection of sketches by Wild.^[14]

Works

• All Saints, Botley, Eastleigh, Hampshire. (1836).^[5]
• St James, West End, Hampshire (begun 1836).^[15] Demolished and replaced 1890.^[16]
• St. John, Moulsham, Chelmsford, Essex (plans approved between 1835 and 1838 )^[17][18]
• Holy Trinity, Blackheath Hill, Greenwich (1839; a design was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1838; demolished).^[5]
• Holy Trinity, Coates, Cambridgeshire (1839).^[5]
• St Lawrence, Southampton (1839–42; design exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1839 demolished 1923).
• St Paul, Stapler's Road, Barton, Newport, Isle of Wight (first stone laid 1840).^[5]
• Christ Church, Streatham (1841).
• Temporary pavilion at Liverpool for the Royal Agricultural Society (1841).[7]
• St Mark's Anglican church, Alexandria, Egypt (1845–54).^[5]
• St Martin in the Fields Northern District Schools, Long Acre, London (1849–50; demolished).^[5]
• Grimsby Dock Tower (1851–2).^[5]
• Various works at South Kensington, including the Cast Court, and East and West Galleries of the South Kensington Museum and the interior planning and structure of the Science Schools (later the Henry Cole Wing of the Victoria and Albert Museum), including the north staircase.^[5]
• Bethnal Green Museum (now the
  Museum of Childhood).^[5]
• British Legation, Tehran (1876).
• Arab Studio, at his own house, 18 Aberdeen Place, Maida Hill.^[5]

The church of St Mary and St Cuthbert at Barton, Yorkshire, sometimes attributed to Wild, is by Joseph Bonomi.^[5]

References