So Who Was Ernest George Fowler

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of Ernest George Fowler

Ernest George Fowler was born in Loughborough and baptised at All Saints church in 1881. His parents were printer and compositor, John Richard (born in Loughborough in 1853), and Sarah Ann, née Tomlinson (born in Rugby around 1860), who were married in 1880, and were living on Meadow Lane at the time of Ernest’s birth. By 1891, the family had moved to 11 Chestnut Street, Loughborough, and Ernest was studying at the Loughborough Grammar School. In 1901, the family were still living on Chestnut Street, and Ernest, the first-born of John and Sarah’s four children, was listed as a clerk in a technical education office, probably working for Leicestershire County Council.

The marriage of Ernest George Fowler, to Flora Cunningham, also of Loughborough, was registered in the second quarter of 1904, in Loughborough, and their daughter, Elaine Mary was born in 1906. In 1907, Ernest was initiated into the John O’Gaunt Lodge of the Leicester Freemasons. Another daughter, Audrey Flora Lilian was born in 1908, and son John Ernest arrived in 1910. By 1911, the family were now living at ‘Midrise’, Rothley Plain, and Ernest was aged 29, his occupation listed as architect and surveyor to Leicestershire Education Committee, while Flora was aged 31.  

Ernest served during the First World War, and it was sometime between 1911 and 1921, that the family moved to Whetstone House, in Whetstone, Leicester, a home with 14 rooms. Ernest’s job was listed on the census return as architect and surveyor, working for Leicestershire County Council in offices on Bowling Green Street. By now, Ernest and Flora had another daughter, Sheila Margaret, born in 1915.

Meanwhile, Ernest’s career was going well, and he was busy designing educational buildings, and in 1925, whilst still living at Whetstone House, he was recognised as a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The family left Whetstone House sometime after 1930, and by 1939 they were living at 41 Wigston Road, Oadby, in a house called Brooklyn on The Oval. Ernest was still a working architect and surveyor with the Leicester County Council, but only daughter Sheila was still living with her parents.  

Captain Fowler retired from Leicestershire County Council in September 1948 at the age of 66, after more than 48 years with the service. A retirement do was held for him, and Sir Robert Martin, chair of the County Council, put the value of the work Ernest had done for the county at over £1m., which is around £40m in today’s money. Ernest’s position as County Architect was filled by Tom Anderson Collins.

Ernest died on 16 January 1950, and probate was granted to his widow, Flora. His effects were £2,312 15s. 1d. Flora lived on until 1965.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Fowler, during his time as County Architect for Leicestershire Education Committee

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

____________________________________

Specifically

*Rutland Hall, Loughborough University (opened 1932)

*Hazlerigg Hall, Loughborough University (1937)

*Extensions to Hinckley Grammar School (1927)

*South Wigston Modern Boys’ and Girls’ School and health centre

*Melton Mowbray Modern Girls, and primary school, and health centre

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Generally

*Over 40 new primary schools

*17 new secondary schools

*Extensions to 23 primary and 23 secondary schools

*Three technical schools

*Over 100 kitchens for the county school meals service

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Basic facts

Architect – Captain Ernest George Fowler

Parents: John Richard Fowler, a printer, and Sarah Ann, née Tomlinson

Date and place of Birth: 1881, Loughborough

Spouse: Flora Cunningham

Children: Elaine Mary (b.1906), Audrey Flora Lillian (b.1908), John Ernest (b.1910), Sheila Margaret (b.1915)

Death: 1950, Oadby

Places lived: 1881, Meadow Lane, Loughborough; c.1891-1903, 11 Chestnut Street, Loughborough; c.1904-c.1914, ‘Midrise’ Rothley Plain; 1914, Whetstone House, Whetstone, Leicester; 1939-1950, ‘Brooklyn’, The Oval, Oadby

Place of work/Offices: Bowling Green Street, Leicester

Education: Loughborough Grammar School

Qualifications:

1925 – Fellow of RIBA

____________________________________

I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Ernest George Fowler. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-ernest-george-fowler.html  [Accessed 7 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

So Who Was Ernest Alfred Dakin?

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist 

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So far in this A-Z blogging challenge we’ve heard a bit about

Edward Thomas Allcock

George Harry, and Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

Tom Anderson Collins

Thomas Henry Dobson

all of whom were architects with some connection to Loughborough!

Looking for an entry for the letter ‘E’, I have not found anyone with a surname beginning with ‘E’, with a Loughborough connection, so also tried looking for someone suitable whose first name begins with an E. Hmmm, not much luck there, either.

I did get a bit excited when I found an architect by the name of Edwin Arthur Johnson (1855-1914) who was said to have come from Leicestershire. It turned out he was actually from Leicester, and after some training in Wales, and Croydon, he set up his own independent practice in Abergavenny, so no Loughborough connection there.

I also did a bit of research (well, quite a lot really!) on Edmund Jeeves. He was an architect in Melton Mowbray, and like our Barrowcliff and Allcock, was responsible for designing Melton’s Carnegie Library. Other than that, there were no other Loughborough connections to allow me to present a blogpost on him.

And then I stumbled upon an architect and surveyor called Ernest Alfred Dakin. His life was a bit tricky to unpick, as there was another person with the same name, born around the same time, in Loughborough, but he wasn’t an architect (he worked at the Morris Empress Works at one time).

Architect Ernest Alfred Dakin had been born in Long Whatton in 1883, to farmer Alfred Dakin and his wife Lily Eleanor Ann Booth. At the age of 8, in 1891 Ernest and the family were still living in Long Whatton, and they continued to do so, and at the time of the 1901 census, they were recorded as being at West End. However, by this time Ernest Alfred was aged 18, and was working as a pupil architect. In 10-4 Ernest Alfred took and passed some construction exams in 1904, alongside Willie North Hampton.

Ernest’s father, Alfred died in 1904, so it was Ernest Alfred whose name which appeared on the electoral roll, listed as living at Town Street, Long Whatton. In 1905 Ernest became the Hon Sec of the Long Whatton Conservative Association, and was one of the Masters of Ceremony at a dance held in Long Whatton, the proceeds of which went to the Loughborough Dispensary.

At the time of the 1911 census, Ernest was living with his mother and his sister on Diseworth Road, Long Whatton, and his occupation was listed as assistant architect and surveyor. Ernest served in the First World War, and at the time of his marriage to Rosaline May Allsopp, daughter of the draper, Elijah Herman Allsopp of Market Place Loughborough, on 17 September 1917, he had reached the rank of second Lieutenant. The wedding took place at Loughborough Parish Church; there were no bridesmaids, and the ceremony was of a quiet nature.

In 1918 Ernest’s sister died, and her death was followed very shortly by the death of Ernest’s mother. In 1921 Ernest and his wife, Rosaline were living with Rosaline’s parents at no.109 Ashby Road, and at the time, Ernest was an architect and surveyor working for the town corporation, and based in the Town Hall. In 1925 Ernest was admitted to the register of licentiates of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

In 1929 Rosaline’s father died, and the couple continued to live at the Ashby Road house. Life as an architect meant that Ernest was often called to provide evidence at trials, especially into road accidents. In 1934, he commented upon plans for a property in Coalville which seems to have been occupied illegally.

On 2 June 1936, Ernest’s wife, Rosaline died, and at the time the 1939 Register was taken, Ernest was living at no.109 Ashby Road with his mother-in-law, and is listed as a chartered architect.  

At the time of his death, on 29 January 1944, Ernest Alfred was still living at no.109 Ashby Road, and his effects amounted to £12,860 5s. 7d.

Unfortunately I have been unable to trace any work done, or buildings designed by Ernest Alfred Dakin.

____________________________________ 

I'm taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Ernest Alfred Dakin. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-ernest-alfred-dakin.html  [Accessed 6 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

So Who Was Thomas Henry Dobson?

  

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

____________________________________       

Short biography of Thomas Henry Dobson

The birth of Thomas Henry Dobson was registered in the second quarter of 1876, in Loughborough. His parents were Charles Albert Dobson and his wife Annie (née Rowbotham). In 1881 the family were living at 80 Regent Street, Loughborough. Charles was aged 29, and was a master joiner employing 1 man and 1 boy. Thomas Henry now had a younger brother, George, aged 1.

By the time of the 1891 census, Thomas Henry was living with his parents, and siblings George (11) and William (7) and sister Muriel L. aged 1, at 11 Ashby Road. He was aged 14, and was articled to George Harry Barrowcliff, local architect, and remained with him as an improver and assistant until 1895.

Between 1895 and 1900 Thomas Henry worked as an assistant to Willie Thomas Hampton, another local architect, as his assistant. Thomas Henry moved away in 1900, and worked as an assistant to John Bond Pearce, between 1900 and 1903. Pearce was an architect based in Norwich, who was responsible for designing the Town Hall at Great Yarmouth, the Manor Hotel at Mundesley in Norfolk, and the restoration of Buxton parish church also in Norfolk, amongst other things.

At the time of the 1901 census, Thomas Henry was aged 24 and was boarding with the Wells family at 2 Norfolk Street, Norwich. In the summer of 1901, he married Annie Squire of Leamington Spa, at Barrow-on-Soar.

Between 1903 and1904, Thomas Henry was assistant to John Owen Bond, also an architect in Norwich, who included church work, cinema design, and industrial building design amongst his portfolio. After only a year, Thomas Henry became assistant to Henry Ward, with whom he stayed until 1907.

When the 1911 census was taken, Thomas Henry and wife Annie, now both aged 34, were living at 14 Belle Vue Crescent, Llandaff, in a house which had six rooms. He was an architect and surveyor with the Education Committee of Glamorgan County Council. Sometime before the 1921 census was taken Thomas Henry and Annie moved to Nottinghamshire, and at the time of the censes both were aged 45, and living at 174 Newcastle Avenue, Worksop. Thomas Henry was working as an architect and surveyor’s assistant for Frederick Hopksinon & Co. Ltd., builders and contractors who were based at 81 Bridge Street, Worksop.

Thomas Henry died on 5 November 1931 in Southsea, where the couple were living at 14 Herbert Road. Probate was granted 27 November to widow Annie. Effects were £422 7s 8d.

Sadly, I have been unable to identify any buildings designed by Thomas Henry Dobson, but am aware that some information is hiding in local archives – I simply haven’t had time to get in touch with the archivists.  

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Basic facts

Architect – Thomas Henry Dobson

Parents: Charles Austin Dobson, master joiner, and Annie (née Rowbotham) of Leamington Spa

Date and place of Birth: 1876, Loughborough

Spouse: Annie Squire

Children: None found

Death: 1931, Southsea

Places lived: 80 Regent Street, Loughborough; 11 Ashby Road, Loughborough; 2 Norfolk street, Norwich; 14 Belle Vue Crescent, Llandaff; 174 Newcastle Avenue, Worksop; 14 Herbert Road, Southsea

Place of work/Offices: 81 Bridge Street, Worksop

____________________________________

I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Thomas Henry Dobson. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-thomas-henry-dobson.html  [Accessed 4 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

So Who Was Tom Anderson Collins?

  

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of Tom Anderson Collins

Thomas Anderson Collins was born in 1902 in Hale, Cheshire, his birth being registered in the fourth quarter of the year, in Bucklow, Cheshire. He was the only child of Thomas and Agnes, and he spent about the first twenty years of his life living with them in Hale, Cheshire. He attended what was then known as the Victoria University in Manchester, and was an architect pupil to the firm of Messrs. Brocklehurst and Hornabrook in Manchester.

Tom worked his way up the architectural career ladder, and gained an associateship of RIBA, and immediately before coming to Leicestershire, he was the deputy county architect of Cumbria, a post which he left in order to take up the position of county architect for Leicestershire, in September 1948.

Tom Anderson Collins (1902-1974)

 

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Collins, during his time as County Architect for Leicestershire

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

____________________________________

 

*Thorpe Acre Junior School (opened 1957)

*Brockington Building (1953)

*Martin Hall, university campus (1957)

*Garendon School (1954)

____________________________________

Basic facts

Architect – Thomas Anderson Collins

Parents: Thomas Collins, a textile engineer, and Agnes

Date and place of Birth: 1873, Hale, Cheshire

Spouse: Lilly

Children: Not known

Death: 1974, Leicester

Places lived: 1902-c.1926 – Bancroft Road, Hale; c.1929 - ? Moss Lane, Timperley; ?-1948 – Scobey, Carlisle; ?-1974 – Marydene Drive, Leicester

Place of work/Offices: Not known, but assumed to be offices of Leicestershire County Council, which were at 1 Grey Friars, Leicester (very close to the burial place of King Richard III) until 1967, when the offices moved to the new County Hall at Glenfield

Education: Victoria University, Manchester

Qualifications:

? pre-1948 – Associate of RIBA

? post-1948 – Fellow of RIBA

____________________________________

I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Tom Anderson Collins. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-tom-anderson-collins.html  [Accessed 3 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

So Who Were George Harry Barrowcliff and Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of George Harry Barrowcliff (scroll down for Arnold Montague Barrowcliff)

George Harry Barrowcliff was born on 29 May 1864, son of Marmaduke, born 1826 in Dishley, and Ann, born 1826 in Swithland. Marmaduke and Ann already had four children – Mary, Herbert, John Edward, and Frank, before George was baptised on 3 July at Emmanuel church, and Frederick was born a year later. George’s paternal grandfather, John, was a farmer of substantial acreage at Loughborough Parks, but had died in 1856.

In 1871, the family were living on Albert Street where Marmaduke had risen from being a merino hosiery warehouseman, to a manufacturer. By 1881 they had moved to a property at Hathern, known as The Elms, although at the time, George and younger brother Frederick were boarding at the Loughborough Grammar School. Studies completed, between 1881 and 1885, George was articled to George Hodson and remained with him as an assistant and resident engineer after qualifying, until August 1888, when he opened his own practice as a civil engineer, architect, and surveyor. During his time with Hodson, George became familiar, amongst other things, with the Blackbrook water scheme, and on 3 December 1889 he was admitted as a student member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, at which time he was living on Mill Street (now Market Street) Loughborough. He successfully gained Associate Membership of the Institution on 27 January 1890, having proved his capabilities by being involved with several road improvement schemes, the water supply to the Loughborough Cemetery Lodge, and the drainage, fencing, and laying out of 5.5 acres of land for the Local Burial Board. It was around this time that he joined forces with Edward Thomas Allcock, a student architect.

In the summer of 1890, George married Jessie Dexter, who had been born on 19 March 1863 at Swithland, although the marriage took place at Edmonton in Middlesex. The couple made their home at no.3 Cumberland Road Loughborough, and in 1891 George was the Honorary Secretary of the managing committee for the dinner to aged and deserving poor. Later that same year, the couple welcomed Arnold Montague to the family, and he was baptised at Emmanuel church on 14 October 1891. During the years that followed, George, had an assistant William Edwin Johnson, and an apprentice, one Thomas Henry Dobson, who stayed with him for a period of three years, before becoming assistant to Willie Thomas Hampton for a year.  By 1901 George, Jessie, and Arnold had moved to a property on Ashby Road, where they had a live-in servant, Elizabeth Carter, who stayed with the family when they moved to a 10-roomed house on Burton Walks, and was joined by her younger sister.

In 1905, George Harry Barrowcliff and his partner Edward Thomas Allcock won the competition to design the Carnegie public library for Loughborough, for which there had been eight entries. The judge of that competition was George Hodson, who suggested a few modifications and alterations to the winning design. 

Arnold, George and Jessie’s son, followed in his father’s footsteps and in 1911 he was an architecture student, lodging in Stamford. Meanwhile, George continued to work with Edward Thomas Allcock, and in 1912 they were appointed to the Loughborough Education Committee for a period of three years. However, by 1918, George seems to have established a separate architectural practice under the name of G.H. & A.M. Barrowcliff, which was based at 18 Devonshire Square. This was the year that Arnold Montague, MC, BA (London) was elected to RIBA, and the following year the partnership between George Barrowcliff and Thomas Allcock civil engineers, architects, and surveyors at the Town Hall Chambers, was dissolved by mutual consent.

By 1921, George, Jessie, Arnold, and the faithful Elizabeth Carter were living at 69 Forest Road, a semi-detached property with 16 rooms, now one part of Kingfisher Halls. A few months after the census return, Arnold Montague married Margaret Dewar, and they moved to no.20 Burton Street, not far from Edward Thomas Allcock, who lived at no.11.

On 3 May 1924 George Harry Barrowcliff of Westbridge, Forest Road, Loughborough died at the nursing home on Leicester Road. Probate was granted from Leicester on 12 September 1924 to Jessie his widow, and Arnold Montagues Barrowcliff, his son, an architect and surveyor. Effects were £10.482 11s. 3d.. After his father’s death, Arnold Montague continued to work from Town Hall Chambers, and he and his wife were still living at no.20 Burton Street when the 1939 Register was published: they were both air raid wardens. George’s widow, Jessie, was still living at 69 Forest Road in 1939, but at the time of her death on 17 August 1940, she was now at 49 Colgrove Road. Probate was granted at Leicester on 4 December 1940 to her son Arnold Montague, and retired bank cashier John Stewart Hartley Cope. Effects were £5,295 13s. 7d..

The Barrowcliff’s faithful servant, Elizabeth Ellen Carter, died in 1964, probate being granted to Arnold Montague who was by then retired from architecture, and to solicitor William Guy Toone. Arnold Montague died in 1974, at which time he lived at 78 Forest Road, and Margaret continued to live there until her own death in 1982.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Barrowcliff, either alone or with partners.

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

____________________________________

 Sole designs

*Memorial baths in Queen’s Park (1897)

*Rosebery Street School (1897-9)

* Charnwood Forest Convalescent Home, Woodhouse Lane (1894)

*United Reformed Church (opened as a congregational chapel) (1908)

*Part of the Grammar School (1895)

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With Edward Thomas Allcock as Barrowcliff & Allcock (partnership begun 1889, dissolved 1918)

*Bellfoundry additions & carillon 1905

*Charnwood Museum (1899)

*Public Library (1903-5)

*Additions to manor house Normanton on Soar

*Emmanuel Church chancel lengthening (by 13ft) & choir and clergy vestries re-build (1909)

*St Mary’s Catholic Church new nave

*House in Gidea Park, Romford

*Sir Gilbert Claughton Centre Dudley (1904 – Dudley Upper School)

*Newbridge High School Coalville (1909)

*Grammar School Knaresborough (1897)

*Cooper Memorial Home for Children, Brand Hill, Woodhouse Eaves (with Alfred William Newsom Burder)

*Converted Hodsons’s free library on Green Close Lane to the Technical Institute (1909)

*Belltower at the bellfoundry (following a fire in 1897)

____________________________________ 

With W. S. Weatherley of London

*St Peter’s Church, Loughborough (1909)

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Basic facts

Architect - George Harry Barrowcliff

Parents: Marmaduke and Ann

Date and place of Birth: 1864 Loughborough

Spouse: Jessie Dexter 1890

Children: Arnold Montague (became an architect and worked in partnership with his father from 1918, and later at 18 Devonshire Square)

Death: 1924 Loughborough

Places lived: Albert Street 1871; The Elms Hathern 1881; Mill Street 1888; 1890 Cumberland Road; Ashby Road 1901; Forest Road

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall

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Short biography of Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

Arnold Montague was born in Loughborough in 1891 to George Harry and his wife, Jessie. Arnold followed in his architect father’s footsteps, and in 1911 was an architectural student living in Stamford, Lincs.. In 1912 Arnold graduated with an architecture degree from the University College London, and subsequently worked with his father. This was interrupted by a period of military service during the First World War, for which he was awarded the Military Cross.

In 1921, Arnold married Margaret Grace Dewar, the only daughter of the Rev. Dewar of Holy Trinity church, although he died only two weeks before the marriage took place. When Arnold’s own father died in 1924, the architectural practice passed to him. Arnold and Margaret lived at 20 Burton Street, and were still there when Arnold’s mother, Jessie died in 1941. When Arnold himself died, in 1974 he was living at 78 Forest Road. His wife Margaret Grace died in 1982.

____________________________________

What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Barrowcliff

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

____________________________________

Sole designs

*Work on St Mary’s Catholic church (1925) including alterations to the nave and the aisle.

____________________________________

Basic facts

Name: Arnold Montague Barrowcliff

Parents: George Harry and Jessie (nee Dexter)

Date and place of Birth: 1891 Loughborough

Spouse: Margaret Grace Dewar 1921

Children: The couple appear not to have had any children

Death: 1974 Loughborough

Places lived: Albert Street 1871; The Elms Hathern 1881; Mill Street 1888; Cumberland Road 1890; Ashby Road 1901; 20 Burton Street 1924; 78 Forest Road

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall

____________________________________

I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). George Harry and Arnold Montague Barrowcliff. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/02/so-who-were-george-harry-barrowcliff.html  [Accessed 2 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

So Who Was Edward Thomas Allcock

An A-Z of Architects of Loughborough

For a complete list of the A-Z posts please head over to the bloglist.

Short biography of Edward Thomas Allcock

Edward Thomas Allcock was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, on 1 July 1871, to parents Thomas, a joiner, and his wife Martha (Nee Reeve). The couple were married in 1868, and Edward Thomas was their second child, and first son. Sometime between 1871 and 1881, Thomas changed occupation and moved house, so in 1881 he was a coal merchant employing four men and two boys, and was now living at 1-2 Green Close Lane in Loughborough.

Between 1885 and 1888, Edward Thomas attended the Loughborough Grammar School. Also during this time the family moved to No.1 Broad Street, another child was born, but Thomas was still a coal merchant at Regent Wharf. In 1889, Edward Thomas went into partnership with George Henry Barrowcliff, although was listed on the 1891 census as Barrowcliff’s assistant, along with Charles Frederick Grundy. Edward Thomas was also registered as an architecture student with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), at the time the family were living at the Elms in Hathern. By 1896, Edward Thomas was elected an associate of RIBA, and the following year, Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the Rosebery Board School, now the Rosebery Medical Centre.

Together, in 1898, Barrowcliff and Allcock won the competition to design the King James Grammar School in Knaresborough, and installed a heating system by the Loughborough firm, Messengers. Also in this year, they designed a belltower for the bellfoundry, to replace a clock tower that had been damaged in a fire in 1892. They were also responsible for the design of the town swimming baths in Queen’s Park, Loughborough, now the Charnwood Museum.

Also in 1898, Edward Thomas married Mary Sampson Handley, the daughter of Thomas Handley, in Loughborough, and their first child, Annie, was born in 1899, the same year that Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the manse for the recently constructed Wesleyan Schoolroom on the corner of Ashby and Radmoor roads.

On the 1901 census return, Edward Thomas, wife Mary, and children Annie, and baby Gerard Thomas aged month one, along with one servant, were living at 11 Burton Street, while Edward Thomas’s father, Thomas, and his family were still at the Elms in Hathern. Also in 1901, Barrowcliff and Allcock worked with architect Alfred William Newson Burder, on the design for the children’s convalescent home in Woodhouse Eaves for Rev. Cooper of Burleigh Hall. Also this year, the foundation stone for the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Girls’ Grammar School was laid in June. The architects were Barrowcliff and Allcock, and the Loughborough construction firm of Moss were the builders.

In between design work, Edward Thomas and Mary welcomed another son in 1903 – Richard Percival.  This event was followed in 1904 by Barrowcliff and Allcock winning the competition to design the Carnegie Public Library for the town of Loughborough, which would be built in 1905. One of the advisers on the committee was Mr George Hodson M.I.C.E., F.G.S. Later that same year, the Cobden Street Board School was damaged by fire, and Barrowcliff and Allcock were the architects behind the new school building, and Loughborough’s Corah and Son were the builders. Also in 1904 Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the Dudley Upper Standards School, a building of red brick, with buff terracotta detailing, in a Jacobean style, and in 1905 designed the open carillon tower at the Taylor Bellfoundry, which was the first carillon to be built by an English bellfounder.

With the birth of Margaret Mary in 1905, the family was growing, so by 1908 they had moved to 55 Park Road, a larger house with 10 rooms. Also that year, Barrowcliff and Allcock designed the United Reformed Church on Frederick Street, which originally opened as a Congregational Chapel, to replace the one on Orchard Street. This was followed in 1909 by an extension to Emmanuel Church.

In 1911, Edward Thomas’s father, Thomas had moved to 145 London Road, Coalville with his wife and two daughters, while Edward Thomas, Mary, and their four children continued to live at 55 Park Road. On the night of the 1911 census, Mary’s father, Thomas Handley aged 69 and widowed, a retired chemist, and her sister Edith Handley, single and aged 36, were also listed at the property, along with servant, Hannah Mary Abell.

Barrowcliff and Allcock were appointed to be architects to the Loughborough Education Committee for a period of 3 years from 1 January 1912, terms being a fixed payment of £7 7s. per annum, with a commission of 5% on all works of repairs amounting to £20 and upwards, although the erections of new schools, or structural alterations to existing ones would not be included in the arrangement. On completion of his studies at Loughborough Grammar School, in 1914 Willliam Frederick Cartwright, who would later go on to design the War Memorial for the Grammar School, was articled to their practice. A couple of years later, on 25 March 1919, the Partnership of Barrowcliff and Allcock, civil engineers, architects, and surveyors at the Town Hall Chambers, was dissolved by mutual consent, and they went their separate ways. Barrowcliff would practice on his own account from Town Hall Chambers, and Allcock will work on his account from 12 Baxter Gate.

1925 must have been a difficult year for Edward Thomas, as on 7 November Mary, his wife died, and on 21 November his father died. This was followed by the death of his mother on 14 September 1927, although sandwiched between these sad occasions, Edward Thomas was elected as a Fellow of RIBA, in 1926. A happy celebration in 1929 when son, Richard Percival was married to Sophie Richardson, some beautiful designs for the new Loughborough Echo Press offices on Swan Street in 1931, and the dedication of the Burton Chapel in November that year.  In February 1934, Edward Thomas designed an oak chair which was dedicated to the memory of John Brise Colgrove, headmaster of the Loughborough Grammar School (1875-1893).

It was around this time that Edward Thomas went into partnership with Robert Malcolm Hayes Grieves, who had been elected a licentiate of RIBA in 1931, and they were members of the Leicester and Leicestershire Society of Architects. Their offices were at 11 Leicester Road, and are still there today, the practice now called A + G Architects.

It is unclear when Edward Thomas moved to 12 Burton Street, but he was certainly there in 1939. It is also unclear when he retired from the architectural practice. At the time of his death, on 6 February 1958, he was living at 13 Park Road, Beckenham, Kent.

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What follows is a selection of buildings designed by Allcock, either alone or with partners. 

Note: this is a selective, not a comprehensive listing.

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Sole designs

*Pooh Bah Lodge (campus) (1936)

*Echo Offices (1930s)

*Shelthorpe School (1931, opened 1933)

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With Grieves 

(partnered with Robert Malcolm Hayes Grieves from 1935, now A+G Architectural Practice)

*Trinity Methodist church 1968

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With George Harry Barrowcliff as Barrowcliff & Allcock 

(partnership begun 1889, dissolved 1918)

*Bellfoundry additions & carillon 1905

*Charnwood Museum (1899)

*Public Library (1903-5)

*Additions to manor house Normanton on Soar

*Emmanuel Church chancel lengthening (by 13ft) & choir and clergy vestries re-build (1909)

*St Mary’s Catholic Church new nave

*House in Gidea Park, Romford

*Sir Gilbert Claughton Centre Dudley (1904 – Dudley Upper School)

*Newbridge High School Coalville (1909)

*Grammar School Knaresborough (1897)

*Cooper Memorial Home for Children, Brand Hill, Woodhouse Eaves (with Alfred William Newsom Burder)

*Converted Hodsons’s free library on Green Close Lane to the Technical Institute (1909)

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Basic Facts

Architect - Edward Thomas Allcock

Parents: Thomas Allcock, a joiner, and Martha Reeve

Date and place of Birth: 1871, Eastwood, Notts.

Spouse: 1898 Mary Sampson Handley

Children: Annie, Gerard Thomas, Richard Percival, Margaret Mary,

Death: 1958, Beckenham, Kent

Places lived: 1881 – Greenclose Lane, Loughborough; 1885 – Broad Street; 1891 - The Elms, Hathern; 1901 – Burton Street, Loughborough; 1908 – Park Road, Loughborough; Beckenham, Kent

Place of work/Offices: Town Hall (with Barrowcliff); Baxter Gate; 11 Leicester Road (the former manse to the Wesleyan Chapel (which used to be the Army & Navy supply store, and Fern Carpets)

Qualifications:

1896 – Associate of RIBA

1926 – Fellow of RIBA

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I’m taking part in the April A-Z Blogging Challenge 2026! 

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Edward Thomas Allcock. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/04/so-who-was-edward-thomas-allcock.html [Accessed 1 April 2026]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne