View source for Edgar Wood

{{Short description|English architect (1860–1935)}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{more footnotes|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox architect
| name                  = Edgar Wood
| image                 = Edgar Wood.jpg
| image_size            = <!-- If image is smaller than 250px -->
| alt                   = 
| caption               = Edgar Wood
| birth_date            = {{Birth date|1860|05|17|df=y}}
| birth_place           = [[Middleton, Greater Manchester|Middleton]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date            = {{Death date and age|1935|10|12|1860|05|17|df=y}}
| death_place           = [[Imperia|Port Marizio]], Italy<ref name="art"/>
| resting_place         = 
| occupation            = {{hlist|Architect|artist|[[draftsman]]}}
| years_active          = 
| alma_mater            = 
| spouse                = 
| partner               = 
| children              = 
| practice              = <!-- Associated architectural firm[s] -->
| significant_buildings = 
| significant_projects  = 
| significant_design    = [[Arts and Crafts movement]]
}}

'''Edgar Wood''' (17 May 1860 – 12 October 1935)<ref name="art">{{cite web |title=Edgar Wood 1860–1935 |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artists/wood-edgar-18601935 |publisher=Art UK |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref> was a British architect, artist, and [[draftsman]] who practised from [[Manchester]] at the turn of the 20th century and gained a considerable reputation in the United Kingdom. He was regarded as a proponent of the [[Arts and Crafts movement]], which was prevalent between 1860 and 1910.

Wood's work is principally domestic, but he designed several churches and small commercial buildings. He worked as an individual designer, mostly with only one assistant, and confined himself to the smaller type of building that he could control personally. Although he was active in Manchester for over twenty years, most of his work is in nearby towns, such as [[Rochdale]], [[Oldham]] and [[Middleton, Greater Manchester|Middleton]] (of which he was native), and in outlying districts such as [[Bramhall]] and [[Hale, Greater Manchester|Hale]].

Wood contributed to Manchester in various ways. He was a founder of the Northern Art Workers' Guild in 1896, one of the major provincial societies within the Arts and Crafts Movement, and was president of the [[Manchester Society of Architects]] from 1911 to 1912. Wood retired in 1921 and over twenty of his architectural works are [[Listed building|listed]].{{fact|date=December 2024}}

==Early years==
Edgar Wood was born in 1860, the sixth of eight children born to Thomas Broadbent Wood and Mary Sykes. Only three of the children lived to adulthood. The family lived in Middleton and Wood's father was a mill owner, a Unitarian, a Liberal, and had a reputation as a strict disciplinarian. Edgar Wood was educated at the local Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.{{where|date=December 2024}}{{fact|date=December 2024}}

The direction of Edgar Wood's life after school was a controversial subject in the Wood household. It had been assumed by his father that Edgar would enter the family cotton business but he had different ideas. Edgar's ambition was to be an artist. The difference in opinion was finally resolved in a compromise which saw Edgar agreeing to train as an architect.{{fact|date=December 2024}}

==Career==
[[File:Edgar Wood, Withington masterplan.jpg|thumb|right|Masterplan for suburban development in [[Withington]] in 1909]]
[[File:EdgarWoodBuilding.jpg|thumb|[[Edgar Wood Centre]], Victoria Park, Manchester (1903)]]
Wood was articled to Mills and Murgatroyd, a Manchester architectural firm responsible for a number of prominent buildings in the Manchester area. Perhaps the best way to judge how Wood felt about his years as a pupil can be gleaned from his own comments in a lecture he delivered in 1900 in [[Birmingham]], "My earliest architectural years were passed in an atmosphere where beautiful creative powers as applied to building, and life in design generally, were drowned in the solemnity of commerce, tracing paper and the checking of quantities."{{fact|date=December 2024}}

Wood passed the RIBA qualifying examinations and became an Associate in 1885. He set up his own office in Middleton and his first commission seems to have been for a shelter and drinking fountain (below) paid for by his stepmother and placed in the Middleton market square to commemorate [[Queen Victoria]]'s Jubilee.{{fact|date=December 2024}}

By 1892 it appears that his practice was flourishing and he moved into new premises at 78 Cross Street in the heart of Manchester. Ever the artist he would arrive at work wearing a large black cloak, lined with red silk, a flat, broad-brimmed hat, and brandishing a silver-handled cane. He said, "If an architect is not allowed to advertise his name he must advertise his personality."{{fact|date=December 2024}}

John H. G. Archer says of Wood that, "Architecturally, Wood's sympathy lay with the progressive movement of the day, represented first by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement". Wood was a founder member of the Northern Art Worker's Guild and became its Master in 1897. Wood practised in various crafts and he designed furniture, jewellery, and metalwork. Archer adds, "In Wood's architecture the influences of both the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau are clearly apparent, the former by his revival of the vernacular traditions of Lancashire and West Riding buildings, and the latter by his use of elongated forms and interwoven motifs."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Our House: Lindley home that steps back in time |last=Davison |first=Emma |url=http://www.examiner.co.uk/leisure-and-entertainment/our-house/2010/01/05/our-house-lindley-home-that-steps-back-in-time-86081-25524415/ |newspaper=Huddersfield Examiner |access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>

Wood was instrumental in saving the colonnade of Manchester's first town hall, designed by [[Francis Goodwin (architect)|Francis Goodwin]], which stood in [[King Street, Manchester|King Street]] and was demolished {{circa}} 1911. Wood raised a public appeal and prepared a scheme for the re-erection of the colonnade in [[Platt Fields park]], and when this was rejected he drew up another for a site in [[Heaton Park]] where the colonnade now stands.<ref>{{cite web |title=Colonnade by Lake to south of Heaton Hall, Heaton Park - Manchester |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/239313 |publisher=Historic England |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref>

Wood devised numerous masterplans for the Manchester Corporation. The city was burgeoning by the Edwardian era and needed houses to clear slums. One of his masterplans which was submitted in 1909 included an unorthodox radial suburban plan for [[Withington]] which centred on a small village.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Suburban growth – 1909 |url=http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/OnlineWorkshops/UrbanAdventures/05Wood.aspx |work=RIBA |access-date=15 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707041321/http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/OnlineWorkshops/UrbanAdventures/05Wood.aspx |archive-date=7 July 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Wood's masterplan was rejected, but influenced future designs. Numerous housing estates in south Manchester in areas such as Withington and [[Burnage]] have houses centred on a radial plan as opposed to straight streets of [[terraced house]]s.

==Works==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name and location
! class="unsortable"|Image
! Built
! Grade
! class="unsortable"|Ref. / Notes
|-
|Rhodes Schools, Middleton
|[[File:Rhodes Schools.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1884
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Rhodes Schools |num=1068501 |access-date=7 April 2024 |mode=cs2}}</ref>
|-
|Temple Street Baptist Church, Middleton
|[[File:Temple Street Baptist Church.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1889
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Temple Street Baptist Church |num=1391925 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|[[Halecroft]], Hale
|[[File:"Halecroft", Hale Barns (geograph 4596163).jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1890 
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}}
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |num=1356501 |desc=Halecroft |access-date=5 April 2008 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Hillcrest and Briarhill, Middleton
|[[File:Hillcrest and Briarhill.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1892
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}}
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Hillcrest and Briarhill |num=1447739 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Royal Bank of Scotland, Middleton
|[[File:Royal Bank of Scotland, Middleton.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1892
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}}
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Royal Bank of Scotland |num=1068505 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Silver Street Chapel, Rochdale
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1893 
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Silver Street Chapel |num=1390684 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Barcroft, Rochdale
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1894
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Barcroft |num=1084264 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Redcroft and Fencegate, Middleton
|[[File:Redcroft and Fencegate and garden wall.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1895
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Redcroft and Fencegate |num=1162377 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Briarcourt, [[Lindley, West Yorkshire|Lindley]]
|[[File:Briarcourt, Lindley.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1895
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |num=1229696 |desc=Briarcourt, Lindley |access-date=21 March 2016 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Norman Terrace, Lindley
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1898 
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Norman Terrace |num=1273981 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Old Clergy House, [[Almondbury]]
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1898 
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Old Clergy House |num=1273981 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|31–37 Broad Street, Rochdale
|[[File:31-37 Broad Street.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1899
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=31–37 Broad Street |num=1392256 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Long Street Methodist Church, Middleton<br>(now renamed The Edgar Wood Centre)
|[[File:Long Street Methodist Church, Middleton-geograph-4670526.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1899
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}}
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Long Street Methodist Church |num=1068504 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|51–53 Rochdale Road, Middleton
|[[File:Rochdale Road, Middleton.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1900
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=51 Rochdale Road |num=1356254 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Gatehouse, Lindley
|[[File:The Gatehouse, Low Hills Lane, Quarmby - geograph.org.uk - 531363.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1900
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Gatehouse |num=1134974 |access-date=7 April 2025|mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Homestead, [[Trafford]]
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1901
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Homestead |num=1356526 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Banney Royd, [[Huddersfield]]
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1901
|align="center" {{Grade I colour}}|{{sort|c|I}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{Citation |title=Banney Royd, Kirklees |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-339955-banney-royd- |work=British Listed Buildings |access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>
|-
|Arkholme, 1 Towncroft Avenue, Middleton
|[[File:Arkholme.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1901
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Arkholme |num=1391983 |grade=II |access-date=10 February 2023 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Ponsonby and Carlile Office, Oldham
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1902
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Ponsonby and Carlile Office |num=1282549 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|[[Silkstone Hall]], [[Hinderwell]], North Yorkshire
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1902
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |num=1412936 |desc=Silkstone Hall, formerly The Croft, including gateways, Hinderwell |access-date=9 January 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Lindley Clock Tower, Lindley
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1902
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{Citation |title=Lindley Clock Tower, Kirklees |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-340126-lindley-clock-tower- |work=British Listed Buildings |access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref><ref>K. Gibson and A. Booth, ''The Buildings of Huddersfield'', History Press, 2009, p. 117.</ref>
|-
|The Lodge to New Cragg Hall,<br>[[Cragg Vale]], West Yorkshire
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1902
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101230436-lodge-to-new-cragg-hall-hebden-royd |title=Lodge to New Cragg Hall, Hebden Royd, Calderdale}}</ref>
|-
|Azo House, Birkby Lodge Road<br>Cruden, Birkby Hall Road
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1903
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Azo House Crenden |num=1220417 |access-date=8 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Parsonage House, [[Thurlstone]]
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1906
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Vicarage to Church of St Saviour |num=1191918 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|[[Edgar Wood Centre]], Manchester
|[[File:EdgarWoodBuilding.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1906
|align="center" {{Grade I colour}}|{{sort|c|I}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Former First Church of Christ, Scientist |num=1197770 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|36 Mellalieu Street, Middleton
|[[File:36 Mellalieu Street.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1906
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|With [[J. Henry Sellers]]<ref>{{NHLE |desc=36 Mellalieu Street |num=1356231 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Staircase and Exedra, Jubilee Park, Middleton
|[[File:Staircase and Exedra, Jubilee Park.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1906
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Staircase and Exedra in Jubilee Park |num=1356230 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Hill House (formerly Davnyveed),<br>[[Barley, Hertfordshire]]
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1907 
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}} 
|align="center"|With J. Henry Sellers<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Hill House |num=1102568 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|22–24 Mount Road, Middleton
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1907
|align="center" {{n/a}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{cite web |title=22-24 Mount Road, Alkrington, Middleton |url=https://manchestervictorianarchitects.org.uk/buildings/22-24-mount-road-alkrington-middleton |publisher=Architects of Greater Manchester 1800–1940 |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref>
|-
|33, 35 and 37 Middleton Gardens, Middleton
|[[File:33-37 Middleton Gardens.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1908
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=33, 35 and 37, Middleton Gardens |num=1068506 |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|[[Upmeads]], [[Stafford]]
|[[File:Upmeads entrance front.png|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1908 
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{Citation |title=Upmeads and Attached Terrace Walls, Stafford |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-384028-upmeads-and-attached-terrace-walls-staff |work=British Listed Buildings |access-date=15 October 2012}}</ref>
|-
|Elm Street School, Middleton
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1910
|align="center" {{Grade II* colour}}|{{sort|c|II*}} 
|align="center"|With J. Henry Sellers<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Elm Street School |num=1356229 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Former Independent Labour Club, Middleton
|[[File:Former Independent Labour Club.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1911–12
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |num=1422300 |desc=Former Independent Labour Club, Middleton |access-date=7 April 2025 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|[[Royd House]], Hale
|[[File:Royd House sign Hale.jpg|100px|centre]]
|align="center"|1916
|align="center" {{Grade I colour}}|{{sort|c|I}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |num=1067922 |desc=Royd House |access-date=22 December 2007 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|-
|Edgecroft, Heywood
|{{centre|—}}
|align="center"|1921
|align="center" {{Grade II colour}}|{{sort|c|II}} 
|align="center"|<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Edgecroft |num=1187164 |access-date=15 October 2012 |mode=cs2 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
|}

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150215045006/http://edgarwoodsociety.co.uk/ Edgar Wood Society, Middleton]
*[http://manchesterhistory.net/edgarwood.html Edgar Wood biography from manchesterhistory.net]
*[http://manchesterhistory.net/edgarwood/work.html Complete list of Wood's works from manchesterhistory.net]
*[http://edgarwoodinyorkshire.weebly.com/ Edgar Wood Heritage Group (Yorkshire)]
*[https://www.facebook.com/briarcourtedgarwood Briarcourt restoration]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Edgar}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Middleton, Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Architects from Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:19th-century British architects]]
[[Category:20th-century British architects]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Manchester Society of Architects]]