John Wills (1846 – 20 June 1906) was an architect based in Derby.

Personal life

He lived at Dodbrook, 136 Whitaker Road, Derby, a house he designed himself.

For many years he was president of the Derby and Derbyshire Band of Hope Union, and treasurer of the South Derbyshire Liberal Association. He was also a councillor on Derby Town Council for the Becket Ward in the 1880s. He was a trustee of Green-hill Chapel in Derby.

He died in Salcombe, Devon on 20 June 1906.[1]

Career

He formed a partnership with his sons William Francis Wills (b. 1877) and John Ross Wills (b. 1882). His practice was based at Victoria Street Chambers in Derby.[2] He was responsible for building many non-conformist chapels in the Midlands and in the southeastern counties of Sussex, Middlesex, Essex and Kent. He has been called the "pre-eminent architect" of Baptist chapels in Kent, where his designs ranged from expensive, large chapels in towns to small wayside chapels in rural areas.[3] His Baptist church at Holland Road in Hove has been called one of the most important Nonconformist chapels of the Victorian era in Sussex.[4]

He was the author of Hints to Trustees of Chapel Property and Chapel Keepers' Manual which was in its 3rd edition by 1884.

Buildings

  • 1878 Futhergate Congregational Chapel, Blackburn[5]
  • 1879 Primitive Methodist Chapel, Cross Keys.
  • 1881 Victoria Baptist Church, Deal, Kent[6]
  • 1882 Chesterfield Primitive Methodist Chapel[7]
  • 1883 Unitarian Chapel, Llandysul.
  • 1885 Ceylon Place Baptist Church, Eastbourne[8]
  • 1886 Park Street Wesleyan Methodist, Blaenavon.
  • 1886 Brasted Baptist Chapel, Brasted, Kent[6]
  • 1886 Vine Baptist Chapel, Sevenoaks, Kent[6]
  • 1887 Fowey Congregational Chapel, Cornwall[9]
  • 1887 Holland Road Baptist Church, Hove[10]
  • 1887 Townend Memorial Methodist Chapel, Knockholt, Kent[6]
  • 1888 Normanton on Soar Wesleyan Chapel[11]
  • 1889 Baptist Tabernacle, New Brompton, Kent[6]
  • 1891 St Paul's Wesleyan Methodist, Penmaenmawr.
  • 1892 Yalding Baptist Chapel, Yalding, Kent[6]
  • 1895 Prichard Memorial Baptist, Llangollen[12]
  • 1895 Hove Methodist Church, Hove[13]
  • 1896 Brimington Wesleyan Chapel, Derbyshire[14]
  • 1897 Chiswick Baptist Chapel, London[15]
  • 1897 Wesleyan Chapel, St Lawrence, Ramsgate, Kent[6]
  • 1898 Wesleyan Church and schools, Firth Park Road, Sheffield
  • 1898 Babington Buildings, St. Peter's Street, Derby for the Public Benefit Boot & Shoe Company
  • 1899 Cornerstone Methodist Church, Worthing[16]
  • 1899 Cavendish Baptist Schools, Ramsgate, Kent[6]
  • 1899 Fitzwalter Road Wesleyan Chapel, Sheffield[17]
  • 1900 Bucks Road Primitive Methodist Chapel, Douglas, Isle of Man
  • 1900 Wesleyan Methodist, Milford Haven.
  • 1900 Queen's Road Methodist Church, Beeston, Nottingham
  • 1900 Borrowash Methodist Church
  • 1901 Victoria Road Congregational Church, Portsmouth[18]
  • 1902 Osmaston Wesleyan Church, Derbyshire[19]
  • 1902 London Road Baptist Church, Portsmouth[20]
  • 1903 Waltham Abbey Wesleyan Church and Sunday School, Essex
  • 1905 Wealdstone Baptist Church
  • 1905 Bethel Methodist Church, Brighouse, West Yorkshire[21]
  • 1905 Baptist Chapel, Eastleigh, Hampshire[22]
  • 1906 Wesleyan Methodist Church, St. Keverne, Cornwall
  • 1910 Wesleyan Church, Sutton-on-Sea, Lincolnshire[23]
  • 1913 Pellon Baptist Church, Halifax, West Yorkshire

References

  1. ↑ Derby Daily Telegraph – Thursday 21 June 1906
  2. ↑ Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Alison Felstead and Jonathan Franklin, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001
  3. ↑ Homan 1984, p. 10.
  4. ↑ Elleray 1981, p. 28.
  5. ↑ Blackburn Standard – Saturday 14 September 1878
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Homan 1984, p. 113.
  7. ↑ Derby Daily Telegraph – Friday 9 June 1882
  8. ↑ Elleray 2004, p. 21.
  9. ↑ Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 16 September 1887
  10. ↑ Elleray 1981, p. 68.
  11. ↑ Nottingham Evening Post – Thursday 26 July 1888
  12. ↑ Llangollen Advertiser, 31 January 1896
  13. ↑ Elleray 1981, p. 69.
  14. ↑ Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald – Saturday 3 October 1896
  15. ↑ Pevsner and Cherry London 3: North West p.394
  16. ↑ Elleray 1981, p. 85.
  17. ↑ Sheffield Evening Telegraph – Thursday 8 June 1899
  18. ↑ Portsmouth Evening News – Saturday 23 February 1901
  19. ↑ Derby Daily Telegraph – Thursday 9 January 1902
  20. ↑ O'Brien et al. 2018, p. 534.
  21. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1183964)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  22. ↑ O'Brien et al. 2018, p. 248.
  23. ↑ "The new Wesleyan Church at Sutton-on-Sea". Louth and North Lincolnshire Advertiser. England. 7 May 1910. Retrieved 20 January 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Bibliography

  • Elleray, D. Robert (1981). The Victorian Churches of Sussex. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-378-4.
  • Elleray, D. Robert (2004). Sussex Places of Worship. Worthing: Optimus Books. ISBN 0-9533132-7-1.
  • Homan, Roger (1984). The Victorian Churches of Kent. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-466-7.
  • O'Brien, Charles; Bailey, Bruce; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Lloyd, David W. (2018). Hampshire: South. The Buildings of England. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22503-7.
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