Benjamin Bucknall | |
---|---|
Born | 1833[1] Rodborough, Gloucestershire[2] |
Died | [1] | 16 November 1895
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Architect |
Buildings | Woodchester Mansion |
Benjamin Bucknall (1833 – 16 November 1895) was an English architect of the Gothic Revival in South West England and South Wales, and then of neo-Moorish architecture in Algeria. His most noted works include the uncompleted Woodchester Mansion in Gloucestershire, England[2] and his restoration of the Villa Montfeld in El Biar, Algiers.[3]
In 1851 Bucknall began work as a millwright, but in 1852 William Leigh helped him to start work for the architect Charles Hansom in Clifton, Bristol.[2] Hansom was a Roman Catholic and in 1852 Bucknall converted to Catholicism.[2]
Bucknall admired the work of the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and travelled to visit him in France in 1861[2] and in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1872.[4] Between 1874 and 1881 Bucknall translated five of Viollet-le-Duc's works into English.[4]
Bucknall was the fifth of seven sons born to Edwin and Mary Bucknall of Rodborough, Gloucs.[2] In 1862 Bucknall was married to Henrietta King.[4] After 1864 they moved to Swansea and by 1869 were living in Oystermouth.[4] The Bucknalls had four children: Mary, Charles (born 1864), Edgar (born 1868) and Beatrice (born 1870).[4]
Bucknall's health deteriorated and he spent the winter of 1876–77 in Algiers.[3] In 1878 he settled there permanently, leaving Henrietta and the children in Gloucestershire.[3] The 1881 Census recorded Henrietta and Mary living at Bisley, Gloucestershire.[3] Some of their children visited Bucknall in Algiers, and Edgar died there in a boating accident in 1889.[3]
In Algiers Bucknall changed his architectural style to neo-Moorish architecture, in which he built villas, notably in the El Biar district of Algiers.[3] His works include a restoration of the Villa Montfeld, now the residence of the US Ambassador to Algeria.[5] He died in Algiers in 1895 and is buried there.[3] A road in Algiers was named Chemin Bucknall in his honour, but since independence it has been renamed.[3]