Benjamin Ferrey

Benjamin Ferrey, FSA, FRIBA (1810 – 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.

Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr, a draper who became Mayor of Christchurch. He was educated at Wimborne Grammar School.

In 1836 Benjamin married Ann Lucas. They had two daughters, Alicia and Annie, and one son, Benjamin Edmund Ferrey. Benjamin Edmund also became an architect, studying under his father and then assisting in his work.

After grammar school, Ferrey went to London to study under Augustus Charles Pugin and alongside Pugin's son Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.

In his early twenties Ferrey toured continental Europe, then studied further in the office of William Wilkins. He started his own architectural practice in 1834, in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London. Some of the earliest work of his practice was in the design of the new seaside resort of Bournemouth. The business grew rapidly and was very successful, with Ferrey designing and restoring or rebuilding many Church of England parish churches. Ferrey also designed private houses and public buildings, including a number of Tudor Revival ones in the earlier part of his career.

Charles Eastlake in his History of the Gothic Revival described Ferrey as "one of the earliest, ablest, and most zealous pioneers of the modern Gothic school" and said his work "possessed the rare charm of simplicity, without lacking interest".

Ferrey was twice Vice-President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and in 1870 was awarded a Royal Gold Medal. He was Diocesan Architect to the Diocese of Bath and Wells from 1841 until his death, carrying out much of the restoration work on Wells Cathedral. He was also appointed Honorary Secretary to the Architects' Committee for the Houses of Parliament.

Buildings

• Tarrant Hinton, Dorset: Old Rectory, 1836
• Westover, Hampshire: estate of villas, 1836 (demolished 1906–29)
• Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset), 1837–38
• St. Thomas of Canterbury parish church, Compton Valence, Dorset: rebuilding of church (except tower), 1839–40
• Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester, Dorset, 1839 onwards
• Clyffe House, Tincleton, Dorset, 1842
• All Saints' parish church, Dogmersfield, Hampshire, 1843
• All Saints' parish church, High East Street, Dorchester, Dorset, (with A.D.H. Acland) 1843–45
• St James' parish church, Morpeth, Northumberland, 1843–46
• St. Nicholas' parish church, Grafton, Wiltshire, 1844
• St. Mary's parish church, Winterborne Whitchurch, Dorset: rebuilt nave, added south aisle and south transept, 1844
• St. Thomas' parish church, Keresley, Coventry, 1844–45
• St. Mary's parish church, Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire: restoration, 1845
• Holy Trinity parish church, Nuffield, Oxfordshire: restored chancel, 1845
• St. Stephen's parish church, Baughurst, Hampshire, 1845
• Christ Church parish church, Melplash, Dorset, 1845–46
• St. Swithin's parish church, Wickham, Berkshire, 1845–49: nave, chancel and upper part of bell-tower
• St. Osmund's parish church, Osmington, Dorset: reconstruction, 1846
• St. Barnabas' parish church, Swanmore, Hampshire, 1846
• St. Mary's parish church, Twyford, Berkshire, 1846
• Saints Peter and Paul chapel, Bishop's Palace, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire, 1846
• Town Hall, Dorchester, Dorset, 1847–48
• Holly Trinity church, Peter St & Bond St, Yeovil, Somerset. 1846
• St. Boniface' parish church, Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, 1847–48
• St Peter's College, Saltley, Birmingham, 1847–52
• St. Barnabas' parish church, Linslade, Bedfordshire, 1848
• St. John the Baptist parish church, Plush, Dorset, 1848
• Holy Trinity parish church, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1848
• St Mary the Virgin parish church, Stamfordham, Northumberland: restoration, 1848
• Christchurch Priory, Hampshire: pulpitum, 1848
• Stafford House, West Stafford, Dorset: west front, 1848–50
• St. Margaret's parish church, Harpsden, Oxfordshire: extended nave, added aisle and bell tower, 1848–54
• Holy Trinity parish church, Penn Street, Buckinghamshire, 1849
• St. John the Evangelist parish church, Tincleton, Dorset, 1849
• Holy Trinity parish church, Wood Green, Witney, Oxfordshire, 1849
• St. Peter's parish church, Cranbourne, Berkshire, 1849
• All Saints' parish church, Bisham, Berkshire: restoration, 1849
• All Saints' parish church, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire: restoration, 1849
• St. Thomas' parish church, Colnbrook, Buckinghamshire, 1849–52
• Holy Trinity parish church, Grazeley, Berkshire, 1850
• St. Michael's parish church, Littlebredy, Dorset: rebuilding of church and addition of spire, 1850
• St. Botolph's parish church, Swyncombe, Oxfordshire: restoration, 1850
• St. Laurence's parish church, Upton, Slough, Buckinghamshire: south aisle, 1852
• St. Mark's parish church, Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire, 1852
• St. Mary's parish church, Kirtlington, Oxfordshire: rebuilt tower, 1853
• Holy Trinity parish church, Deanshanger, Northamptonshire, 1853
• St. Paul's parish church, Neithrop, Banbury, Oxfordshire, 1853
• Battleford Hall, Fleet, Lincolnshire. Old Rectory, 1854 for James Jerram, rector of Fleet.
• St. Mary's parish church, Fairfield, Worcestershire, 1854
• All Saints parish church, Huntsham, Devon, 1854-56

All Saints' parish church, Blackheath, built 1857–67

Ferrey's two chapels at Jumper's Cemetery, Christchurch

• St. Giles' parish church, Barlestone, Leicestershire, 1855
• St. Paul's parish church, Scropton, Derbyshire, 1855–56
• Chapels at Ocklynge cemetery, Eastbourne, East Sussex, 1857
• All Saints parish church, Blackheath, London, 1857–67
• Christ Church, Eastbourne, East Sussex, 1859
• Grammar School, Morpeth, Northumberland, 1859
• Chase Cliffe house, Crich, Derbyshire, 1859–61
• Bulstrode Park, Buckinghamshire: house, 1862
• Christchurch Priory, Hampshire: restoration including porch vaulting, 1862
• St. Mary's parish church, Eling, Hampshire: restoration, 1863–65
• St. Mary and St. Peter's parish church, Pett, East Sussex, 1864
• St. Mary's parish church, Warmington, Northamptonshire: restored chancel, 1865
• St Michael and All Angels' church, Chetwynd, Shropshire, 1865-7
• All Hallows' parish church, Whitchurch, Hampshire: restoration, 1866
• Huntsham Court, Huntsham, Devon, 1868-70
• St. Michael's parish church, Otterton, Devon: rebuilt 1869–71
• Christ Church parish church and vicarage, Colbury, Hampshire, 1870
• St. James' parish church, Birlingham, Worcestershire: rebuilt 1871–72
• St. John the Evangelist, Holdenhurst, Hampshire (now Dorset): chancel, 1873
• St. Mary's parish church, Bransgore, Hampshire: chancel, 1873
• St. Mary's parish church, Tarrant Hinton, Dorset: chancel, 1874
• St Mary's Church, Wingham 1874-1875
• Parish Church of St Luke, Burton, Christchurch, Dorset (1874-1876)
• Holy Trinity parish church, High West Street, Dorchester, Dorset, 1875–76
• Christchurch Priory, Hampshire: nave gallery
• Jumpers' Cemetery, Christchurch, Hampshire (now Dorset): arched gateway and two chapels
• Church of St Michael, Enmore, Somerset

Publications

• Ferrey, Benjamin; Brayley, E. W. (1834). The Antiquities of the Priory of Christchurch: Consisting of Plans, Elevations, Sections, Details, and Perspective Views. 
• Ferrey, Benjamin (1861). Recollections of A. N. Welby Pugin and his father Augustus Pugin; with notices of their works. London: Edward Stanford. 

• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 418
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 117
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 130
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 183
• ^ Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 423
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 191
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 179
• Pevsner & Richmond, 1957, pages 214–215
• Pevsner & Cherry, 1975, page 255
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 488
• Pevsner & Wedgwood, 1966, page 326
• Pevsner & Cherry, 1975, page 166
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 724
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 94
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 282
• Pevsner, 1966, page 266
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 308
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 616
• Pevsner, 1966, page 243
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 563
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 182
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 733
• Pevsner & Wedgwood, 1966, page 201
• Pevsner, 1960/73, page 188
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 317
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 637
• Pevsner & Richmond, 1957, page 292
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 176
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 448
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 634
• Pevsner, 1960/73, pages 223–224
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 845
• Pevsner, 1966, page 123
• Pevsner, 1966, page 88
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 562
• Pevsner, 1960/73, page 100
• Pevsner, 1966, page 147
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, pages 253–254
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 801
• Pevsner, 1960/73, page 237
• Pevsner, 1960/73, page 160
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 675
• Pevsner & Cherry, 1961/73, page 176
• Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 443
• Pevsner, 1968, page 150
• ^ Pevsner & Cherry, 1989, page 497
• Pevsner, 1960, page 59
• Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 315
• "Ocklynge cemetery chapel". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
• "Blackheath, All Saints". Diocese of Southwark. Retrieved 28 December 2011. 
• Nairn & Pevsner, 1965, page 486
• Pevsner & Richmond, 1957, page 215
• Pevsner & Williamson, 1978, page 157
• Pevsner, 1960/73, page 77
• ^
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 207
• Elleray, 2004, page 44
• Pevsner & Cherry, 1961/73, page 446
• "Church of St Michael & All Angels". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. 18 June 1959. 
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 650
• Pevsner & Cherry, 1989, page 614
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, pages 180–181
• Pevsner, 1968, page 87
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 295
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 142
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 417
• "Parish Church of St Luke (list entry number - 1154270)". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 15 May 2014. 
• Newman & Pevsner, 1972, page 181
• Pevsner & Lloyd, 1967, page 178
• "Church of St Michael". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 25 February 2015.