Detmar Blow
Born24 November 1867 (1867-11-24)
England
Died7 February 1939 (1939-02-08) (aged 71)
Gloucester, England
OccupationArchitect
SpouseWinifred Tollemache
BuildingsHilles; Eaton Hall (Cheshire)

Detmar Jellings Blow (24 November 1867 – 7 February 1939)[1] was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became estates manager to the Duke of Westminster.

The fiction that he was a descendant of the English restoration composer John Blow was started in 1910 by Detmar Blow's wife Winifred, a member of the aristocratic Tollemache family, as a means of obtaining a licence from St Paul's Cathedral for the marriage of herself and Detmar.

Life and career

Son of Jellings Blow, of Hilles, Stroud, Gloucestershire,[2] Blow was one of the last disciples of John Ruskin, whom as a young man he had accompanied on his last journey abroad. Detmar was friends with the Wyndham family, who at their country house Clouds in Wiltshire created a salon frequented by many of the leading intellectual and artistic figures of the day, known as The Souls, who welcomed Blow into their midst whilst admiring his romantic socialist views.

Blow's architectural work was very much influenced by his mentors Ruskin, William Holman Hunt and Philip Webb, the architect of Clouds (1886). In his early career he adopted the role of the wandering architect, travelling artisan-like with his own band of masons from project to project. He married the aristocratic and intellectual Winifred Tollemache, and began to be patronised by the higher échelons of the British aristocracy. While much of his early work was, like that of his contemporary Lutyens, in the Arts and Crafts style, his later work was dictated by the whims of his aristocratic patrons. He became a brother of the Art Workers' Guild in 1892. At one point during his career he and Lutyens contemplated entering together into an architectural partnership. In 1906 he formed a partnership with the French architect Fernand Billerey (1878–1951) which continued until 1924, when the partnership was dissolved.

Amongst the buildings designed by Blow were Hilles, at Harescombe, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, the mansion he built for himself after 1914,[3][4] very much influenced by the ideals of Ruskin, Webb and William Morris (Blow was present at Morris's death and organised his funeral procession, driving the flower-strewn hay-wagon carrying the coffin, dressed in a farm worker's smock). In 1908 he rebuilt Bramham Park for the Lane Fox family; however, this commission was a restoration of the former Baroque house which had been severely damaged by fire in 1828.

Horwood House, designed by Detmar Blow in William and Mary style in 1912

Blow designed various properties for Hugh "Bendor" Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, including the Château Woolsack, a hunting lodge at Mimizan in France. From 1916 to 1933 Blow worked almost exclusively for the duke, as manager of the Grosvenor estates, and as private secretary. His contemporary, Edwin Lutyens, described Blow in 1917 working as "a sort of baillif and Maitre d'Hotel as far as I can make out!"[5] A later disagreement, over "largely unfounded" allegations of embezzlement, led to Blow's resignation and retirement.[6][7]

Notable works

References

  1. "Dictionary of Scottish architects". Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  2. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 3, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 3912
  3. Musson, Jeremy (2018). Secret Houses of the Cotswolds. Frances Lincoln. pp. 70–75. ISBN 978-0711239241.
  4. Historic England. "Hilles House and terraced gardens (1090823)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  5. 1 2 Drury 2000, p. 244.
  6. Dakers, Caroline. "Fonthill Recovered". UCL Digital Press. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  7. "Detmar Blow". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  8. Drury 2000, p. 92-4.
  9. Drury 2000, p. 87.
  10. National Trust Stoneywell appeal Archived 28 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine accessed 16 October 2012
  11. Drury 2000, p. 101.
  12. Drury 2000, p. 97-99.
  13. clarenco.com Happisburgh Manor Archived 14 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 15 October 2012
  14. Drury 2000, p. 110-115.
  15. Drury 2000, p. 111.
  16. Historic England. "Lavington Park Seaford College (Grade II*) (1232490)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  17. Drury 2000, p. 127-130.
  18. Baggs, A. P.; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H. (1995). "Parishes: Amesbury". In Crowley, D. A. (ed.). A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 15. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 13–55. Retrieved 25 May 2021 via British History Online.
  19. Drury 2000, p. 116-124.
  20. Drury 2000, p. 133-134.
  21. Historic England. "Billesley Manor Hotel (Grade II*) (1382696)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  22. Drury 2000, p. 107.
  23. Sheppard 1980, pp. 44–57.
  24. Historic England. "46, Grosvenor Street W1 (Grade II*) (1066700)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  25. Historic England. "Horwood House (Grade II) (1288825)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  26. Drury 2000, p. 106.
  27. de:Schloss Kranzbach
  28. Schloss Kranzbach Wellness Hotel Archived 14 January 2013 at archive.today Accessed 16 October 2012
  29. "?". Clifton Society. 26 June 1913. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  30. Historic England. "Central Building of Wootton Manor (Grade II*) (1288825)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  31. Drury 2000, p. 104.

Bibliography

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