Charles Barry - Early Career

Early Career

While in Rome he had met Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne, through whom he met Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland and his wife Elizabeth Fox, Baroness Holland, their London home, Holland House was the centre of the Whig Party (Barry remained a lifelong supporter of the Liberal party, the successor to the Whig Party), Barry was invited to the gatherings at the house, and there met many of the prominent members of the group; this led to many of his subsequent commissions. Barry set up his home and office in Ely Place in 1821, in 1827 he moved to 27 Foley Place, then in 1842 he moved to 32, Great George Street and finally to The Elms, Clapham Common, (Now no. 29 Clapham Common Northside) is a Georgian house of five bays and three stories, designed by Samuel Pepys Cockerell as his own home.

Probably thanks to his fiancée's friendship with John Soane, Barry was recommended to the Church Commissioners, and was able to obtain his first major commissions building churches for them. These were in the Gothic Revival architecture style, including two in Lancashire, St. Matthew, Campfield, Manchester (1821–22) and All Saints' Church, Whitefield (or Stand) (1822–25). Barry designed three churches for the Commissioners in Islington, all were built during (1826–1828), these were, Holy Trinity, St. John's and St. Paul's, and all are Gothic in style.

Two further Gothic churches in Lancashire, not for the Commissioners followed in 1824: St Saviour's Church, Ringley, partially rebuilt in 1851-54 and Barry's neglected Welsh Baptist Chapel, on Upper Brook Street (1837–39) in Manchester (and owned by the City Council), is currently open to the elements and at serious risk after its roof was removed in late 2005. His final church for the Commissioners' was the Gothic St Peter's Church, Brighton (1824–28) which he won in a design competition on 4 August 1823 and was his first building to win acclaim. The next church he designed was St Andrew's Hove, East Sussex, in Waterloo Street, Brunswick, (1827–28); the plan of the building is in line with Georgian architecture, though stylistically the Italianate style was used, the only classical church Barry designed that was actually built. The Gothic Hurstpierpoint church (1843–45), with its tower and spire, unlike his earlier churches this was much closer to the Cambridge Camden Society's approach to church design. According to the his son Alfred, Barry later disowned these early church designs of the 1820s and wished he could destroy them.

His first major civil commission came when he won a competition to design the new Royal Manchester Institution (1824–35) for the promotion of Literature, Science & Arts (now part of the Manchester Art Gallery), in Greek revival style, the only public building by Barry in that style. Also in north-west England, he designed Buile Hill House (1825) in Salford this is the only known house where Barry used Greek revival architecture. The Royal Sussex County Hospital was erected to Barry's design (1828) in a very plain classical style.

Thomas Attree's villa, Queen's Park, Brighton, the only one to be built of a series of villa's designed for the area by Barry and the Pepper Pot (1830), whose original function was a water tower for the development. In 1831 he entered the competition for the design of Birmingham Town Hall, the design was based on a Ancient Greek temple of the Doric order, but it failed to win the competition.

The marked preference for Italian architecture, which he acquired during his travels showed itself in various important undertakings of his earlier years, the first significant example being the Travellers Club, in Pall Mall, built in 1832, as with all his urban commissions in this style the design was astylar. He designed the Gothic King Edward's School, New Street, Birmingham (1833–37), demolished 1936, it was during the erection of the school that Barry first met Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, he helped Barry design the interiors of the building.

His last work in Manchester was the Italianate Manchester Athenaeum (1837–39), this is now part of Manchester Art Gallery. From (1835–37) he rebuilt Royal College of Surgeons of England, in Lincoln's Inn Fields, Westminster, he preserved the Ionic portico from the earlier building (1806–13) designed by George Dance the Younger, the building has been further extended (1887–88) and (1937). In 1837 he won the competition to design the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London, this is one of his finest Italianate public buildings, notable for its double height central saloon with glazed roof, his favourite building in Rome, the Farnese Palace influenced the design.