Henry Flitcroft

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Henry Flitcroft
Born(1697-08-30)30 August 1697
probably Hampton Court, England
Died25 February 1769(1769-02-25) (aged 71)
Hampstead, England
NationalityEnglish
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsWentworth Woodhouse
Woburn Abbey
St. Giles-in-the-fields
Flitcroft's drawing for Whitehall Palace[1]

Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a humble background; his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court. Flitcroft began his career as a joiner. While working as a carpenter at Burlington House, he fell from a scaffold and broke his leg. During his recovery, the young Lord Burlington noticed his talent with a pencil. By 1720, Flitcroft was Burlington's draughtsman and general architectural assistant, surveying at Westminster School for Burlington's dormitory and superintending on site at Tottenham House. Working within Burlington's inner circle, which championed the new Palladian architecture, provided Flitcroft with valuable education.

Flitcroft redrew the plates for publication in The Designs of Mr. Inigo Jones, published by William Kent in 1727 under Burlington's patronage and supervision. In May 1726, Burlington secured his protégé an appointment at the Office of Works, where he advanced from Master Carpenter and Master Mason to Comptroller of the King's Works, a prestigious position. He also received royal commissions for private projects for junior members of the British royal family, notably Prince William, Duke of Cumberland to whom he had been his "architectural tutor".[2] His work for the Duke at Windsor Great Park included collaborating with Thomas Sandby who worked as Flitcroft's assistant when designing Virginia Water Lake's 'Great Bridge'.[3][4][5][6]

Flitcroft adapted and altered The Great Lodge at Windsor (later known as Cumberland Lodge) for its chief resident, the Duke of Cumberland. In 2022, a conference room at Cumberland Lodge is named 'Flitcroft' after him.[7][6]

Flitcroft's designs such as a "low rustic bridge with rockwork at Virginia Water" are held in the Royal Collection Trust and reveal that Sandby often created drawings of Flitcroft's designs.[8] Flitcroft was constantly occupied with private commissions. Like most professional architects (and unlike virtuoso earls), he also engaged in speculative construction in newly developing London streets, supplied stone, and contracted to erect the buildings he designed.

Flitcroft designed Potternewton Hall, near Leeds c.1730. His panelling and a mantelpiece from one of the hall's rooms were installed in Sutton Park after 1935.[9]

Royal Patronage

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From 1746 to 1756, he served as Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral and was Comptroller of the King's Works from 1758-1769.[10]

Monument at St Mary's church, Teddington

In 1724, Flitcroft married Sarah Minns at St Benet's, Paul's Wharf. His son Henry was born in Hampton (1742). Flitcroft is buried at St Mary with St Alban, Teddington, alongside his son Henry (died 1826) and wife Jane (died 1778).[11] The inscription on his tomb records that "Here lies the body of HENRY FLITCROFT of Whitehall in the county of Middlesex who had the honour of serving three first Princes of the House of Brunswick in the Board of Works of which he was successively Appointed Clerk, Master Mason & Controller in the last of which Office he continued till his death which happened on the 25th of February 1769." A memorial to Henry Flitcroft is located on the west wall inside the church.

Flitcroft Street, near St Giles in the Fields, London, was named after Henry Flitcroft.

Major commissions

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Flitcroft built extensively in the West End of London.


  • Wimpole Hall, as remodelled by Flitcroft
    Wimpole Hall, as remodelled by Flitcroft
  • The Pantheon, Stourhead
    The Pantheon, Stourhead
  • Facade The Pantheon, Stourhead
    Facade The Pantheon, Stourhead
  • Interior, The Pantheon, Stourhead
    Interior, The Pantheon, Stourhead
  • The temple of Apollo, Stourhead
    The temple of Apollo, Stourhead
  • North front, St. Giles-in-the-fields
    North front, St. Giles-in-the-fields
  • Looking East, St. Giles-in-the-fields
    Looking East, St. Giles-in-the-fields
  • Altar, St. Giles-in-the-fields
    Altar, St. Giles-in-the-fields
  • West front, Woburn Abbey
    West front, Woburn Abbey
  • West front, Wentworth Woodhouse, the wings were altered later by John Carr
    West front, Wentworth Woodhouse, the wings were altered later by John Carr
  • Bower House, Essex
    Bower House, Essex
  • table designed c.1740-1745
    table designed c.1740-1745

References

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  1. ^ "Whitehall Palace". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  2. ^ Hedley, G. (2023). "Henry Flitcroft". ART UK - A Public Catalogue Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2021. The royal Duke of Cumberland had led the English troops but, in contrast to his reputation as 'Butcher' Cumberland, he was a patron of architecture, especially at Windsor. As a child, his architectural tutor was Henry Flitcroft and the duke later employed him to build a range of elements in the Windsor landscape, from the gothic Belvedere to a Chinese yacht.
  3. ^ Historic England. "The Royal Estate, Windsor: Virginia Water Lake and the Triangular Belvedere (1001177)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  4. ^ Jane Roberts (1997). Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. Yale University Press. pp. 298, 362, 436. ISBN 978-0-300-07079-8.
  5. ^ Finch, J. (2020). Capability Brown - Royal Gardener. White Rose University Press. p. 154. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Artists Thomas Sandby 1721–1798". ART UK - a Public Catalogue Foundation. Retrieved 3 May 2023. The Great Lodge at Windsor, later known as Cumberland Lodge, was subsequently adapted and altered for the Duke and his retinue by the architect Henry Flitcroft (1697-1769), and there is circumstantial evidence that Sandby may have worked as one of his assistants.
  7. ^ "Flitcroft". Cumberland Lodge. 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023. Our large conference room, Flitcroft, is situated in the Mews conference building at Cumberland Lodge.
  8. ^ "Description A pen and watercolour design for a low rustic bridge with rockwork at Virginia Water". The Royal Collection Trust. 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022. This drawing belongs to a group of designs by Sandby in the Royal Collection relating to various works carried out in Windsor Great Park. In 1750, the Duke of Cumberland created the artificial lake of Virginia Water. The architect for this project was Henry Flitcroft, although Sandby was involved in the Duke's never-completed plans to reinstall the Holbein Gate, which he had purchased after its removal from Whitehall, to a new location on the Long Walk in 1759.
  9. ^ Yorkshire Illustrated. Yorkshire Illustrated Publications. 1950. p. 19. Retrieved 3 May 2023. ...Sutton Park...The panelling in the Dining Hall was formally at Potternewton Hall, one of the Yorkshire houses designed by Henry Flitcroft, better known as the chief architect of Wentworth Woodhouse...
  10. ^ The Story of Follies - Architectures of Eccentricity. Reaktion Books. 2022. p. 123. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Henry Flitcroft". The Twickenham Museum.

Sources

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Court offices
Preceded by Comptroller of the King's Works
1758–1769 		Succeeded by