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Henry Clutton

Henry Clutton was an English architect and designer.

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Jun 11, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗
Minley Manor (1858–1860) source ↗

Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)12 was an English architect and designer.

Life

St Mary Magdalen, Mortlake source ↗

He was born on 19 March 1819 the son of Owen Clutton (1775–1845), a corn factor, and his second wife Elizabeth Amelia Goodinge (1782–1848). He was baptised at St Mary’s Church, Newington in Surrey. He met his future wife at the home of Dr and Mrs Fincham in the summer of 1858. Henry offered Caroline Alice Ryder (1840-1934) and her father a ride home in his carriage. He asked her to marry him. As she was only 18 her father asked them to wait until she was 20. On 17 October 1860 they married and had the following children:

  • Henry (Harry) Joseph Clutton (1861–1909)
  • Francis (Frank) Owen Clutton (1862–1923)
  • Katherine Mary Clutton (1864–1955)
  • Alice Mary Clutton RSCJ (1866–1954)
  • Roger Bernard Clutton SJ (1870–1945)
  • Captain Ralph Philip Clutton R.N. (1872–1942)
  • Margaret Mary Clutton RSCJ (1874–1964)
  • Cecily Mary Clutton (1876–1907)
  • Beatrice Mary Clutton (1878–1955)

He died on 27 June 1893 at Brookside, Yiewsley, West Drayton, Middlesex at the house of his brother John where he was staying. He was buried in the churchyard of St Mary Magdalen, Mortlake. He left an estate valued at £98,4003 (equivalent to £10,932,277 in 2025).4

Career

Cliveden House Clock Tower (1861) source ↗

He studied with Edward Blore between 1835 and 1840, but began his own practice in 1844. He became an expert in French medieval architecture. Clutton also worked with William Burges. John Francis Bentley was a student of Clutton.

In 1855, Clutton and Burges won the competition to design Lille Cathedral; however, the idea of entrusting the construction of a church in honour of the Virgin to foreign architects of an Anglican confession raised objections. Therefore, the project was given to a local architect.5

Between 1858 and 1860, Clutton built Minley Manor in the French chateau style for Raikes Currie, a partner in Glyn Mills' Bank and a member of the Currie family who benefited substantially from slavery in the British West Indies.6 It was later used by the Royal School of Military Engineering.

After Cliveden House burned down for the second time, around 1859, George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland commissioned Clutton to design a nearby water tower. The 100-foot (30m) clock tower was added in 1861 and still provides water for the house today. It is rendered in Roman cement like the rest of the house, and features four clock faces framed by gilded surrounds and a half-open staircase on its north side. It was described by the architectural critic Nicholas Pevsner as "the epitome of Victorian flamboyance and assertiveness."7

In 1865, William Duke of Bedford, decided to build a Chapel of Ease linked to the Anglican parish church of St. Eustacius, Tavistock, Devon. This chapel was to accommodate the miners pouring into Tavistock to work at the Great Consoles copper mines to the west of Tavistock. After the mines were worked out, the need for this church diminished and it closed. In 1953 the Catholic Diocese of Plymouth purchased the church and it is now the parish church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Mary Magdalene.

Works

  • Illustrations of Medieval Architecture in France, from the Accession of Charles VI. to the Demise of Louis XII: With Historical and Professional Remarks

Buildings

1840s

  • Merevale Hall, Atherstone, Warwickshire 1842-448 (completion of original house by Edward Blore)
  • St Mary's Church, Ewell, Surrey 1847–48
  • South Wales Training College, Carmarthen 18489
  • St Nicholas Church, Baddesley Ensor, Warwickshire 184810
  • Gatehouse, Merevale Lane, Merevale, Warwickshire 1848-4911
  • Coach House, Merevale Lane, Merevale, Warwickshire 1848-4912
  • Frankleigh House, Bradford-on-Avon 184913
  • St John’s Church, Church Road, Harrow, Greater London 1849

1850s

  • Hatherop Castle, Gloucestershire 1850–5614
  • Houghton Hall, Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, c. 1851: overhaul of the mansion15
  • Church School, Dunstall, Staffordshire 1852-5316
  • St Mary’s Church, Dunstall, Staffordshire 1852-5317
  • Ruthin Castle, Ruthin, Wales 185318
  • St Mary's Church, Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, 1853: rebuilding of chancel19
  • Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire ca. 185420 (wings extended, colonnade and portico added to E for General John Byng, 1st Earl of Strafford)
  • School21 and School House, Warrenne Way, Reigate, Surrey 185422
  • St Nicholas Church, Hatherop, Gloucestershire 1854-5523
  • St Luke's Church, Simonsbath, Exmoor, Somerset 1855–56
  • Queen's Free Grammar School, Basingstoke 185524
  • Balcombe Place, Haywards Heath Road, Balcombe, West Sussex 185625(for John Hankey of Haylands)
  • Anglican Chapel, Dorking Cemetery, Surrey 185626
  • St Francis Xavier's Schools, Salisbury Street, Liverpool 185627
  • Welsh School, Church Road, Spelthorne, Surrey 185728
  • Chapel at Welsh School, Church Road, Spelthorne, Surrey 185729
  • Husborne Crawley Lower School and Schoolhouse, School Lane, Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire 185730
  • Battle Abbey, Sussex 185731
  • North West Lodge, Balcombe Place, West Sussex 185832
  • South West Lodge, Balcombe Place, West Sussex 185833
  • St Lawrence’s Church ,Steppingley, Bedfordshire 1858-6034
  • Minley Manor, Minley Road, Blackwater, Hampshire 1858-6035
  • Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church, Hertford 1858-59
  • St Mary of the Isle Church, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1859
  • Pepperhill Farmhouse and Pepperhill Cottage with attached former dairy, Over Stowey, Somerset 185936 (for Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton)
  • St Francis of Assisi Church, Notting Hill, London 1859–60 (with John Francis Bentley)37
  • Quantock Lodge, Somerset 1859-60s

1860s

1870s

  • Steppingley County Primary School, Church Road, Steppingley, Bedfordshire 1870
  • The Sandy Lodge, Bedfordshire 1870
  • Grosvenor House, remodelling, 1870–72 and 1880–81
  • Board School, Great North Road, Stibbington, Cambridgeshire 1871-7251
  • St Mary’s Church, Stevington, Bedfordshire 1871 (restoration)
  • St Andrew’s Church, Minley Road, Blackwater, Hampshire 187152
  • Sacred Heart Church, Bournemouth 1872–75
  • Widmerpool Hall, Nottinghamshire 1872
  • Holy Name Presbytery, 8 Portsmouth Street, Manchester 187453
  • Old Warden Lower School, High Street, Old Warden, Bedfordshire 1874-7554
  • Ickwell Lodge, Warden Road, Old Warden, Bedfordshire 187455
  • Main Lodge, High Street, Old Warden, Bedfordshire 187456
  • St Mary's Church chapel for the tomb of Napoleon III, Chislehurst 1874
  • Mansion House, Old Warden Park, Bedfordshire for Joseph Shuttleworth (of Clayton & Shuttleworth)1875-7657
  • Melchet Court, St Edwards School, Melchet Park, Surrey 1875-7958 (rebuilt after fire)
  • Mount St Mary's College, Derbyshire, 1876
  • St Michael's Church, Ditton, Cheshire 1876–1879
  • The Piazza, 1-8 Bedford Chambers and 33 James Street, Covent Garden, London 1877-7959
  • Church of Our Lady of Consolation and St Stephen, Forestry Track 34, West Tofts Road, Lynford, Norfolk, 187860

1880s

  • Battle Abbey
    Battle Abbey
  • Quantock Lodge
    Quantock Lodge
  • St Michael's Church, Ditton
    St Michael's Church, Ditton
  • St Mary's Church, Ewell
    St Mary's Church, Ewell
  • Hoar Cross Hall
    Hoar Cross Hall
  • The Sandy Lodge
    The Sandy Lodge
References

References

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  3. "Recent Wills". Reading Mercury. United Kingdom. 2 September 1893. Retrieved 9 May 2026 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. UK Consumer Price Index inflation figures from 1209–2024 based on data from "Inflation calculator". Bank of England. London. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
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