Arthur Ashpitel

Arthur Ashpitel (1807–1869) was a British architect. Born in Hackney, he trained under his father, William Hurst Ashpitel. He set up his own practice in 1842, and worked in partnership with John Whichcord Jr. between 1850 and 1855. His works include the churches of St Barnabas, Homerton and St John the Evangelist, Blackheath.

Ashpitel, the son of the architect William Hurst Ashpitel, was born in Hackney, London in 1807. He was educated at Dr. Burnet's school in Hackney (see Sutton House, London) and trained as an architect under his father, but two childhood accidents damaged his health, and he did not set up in practice until 1842. One of his first projects was the redevelopment of a site in Houndsditch for Andrew Kennedy Hutchison, on which he built the Hutchison Markets, the Palace Tavern, and between 40 and 50 houses. In 1845 he built the church of St Barnabas at Homerton, a Gothic Revival design in Kentish ragstone, fitted, unusually for the date, with gas lighting. He later added a parsonage, a north aisle and a vestry.

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) 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. At Blackheath he built St John the Evangelist's Church (1852).

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 accept commissions.

...
Wikipedia