Christopher Bowerbank

Christopher William Bowerbank (17 November 1940 – 25 April 2002) was an English architect and raconteur.[1] Bowerbank's obituary in The Daily Telegraph described him as a ‘celebrated member of West London society and one of the best conversationalists of his generation’.[2][3] Will Self recalled that Bowerbank had the ability to transition between the "haut, beau and demi-mondes". In his later years Bowerbank was said to resemble Beethoven.[2][3]

Christopher Bowerbank
Born17 November 1940
Biddestone, Wiltshire, England
Died25 April 2002 (aged 61)
Notting Hill, London, England
EducationSherborne School
Alma materArchitectural Association School of Architecture
RelativesGreat uncle: Sir Fred Thompson Bowerbank

In his early years as an architect, Bowerbank lived in Camden in the same house as Bruce Robinson, the film producer.[2][3][4] Bowerbank's Jaguar was said to be the inspiration behind the mode of transport to Penrith in Robinson's cult classic film Withnail and I.[5]

At the time of Bowerbank's death he was engaged to Emma Soames, the editor of The Daily Telegraph magazine and granddaughter of Winston Churchill.[2][3][6] According to his obituary in The Daily Telegraph, Bowerbank 'talked to everyone with the same charm and vigorous attack – whether it was Princess Margaret or the locals on his beloved Orkney island of Rousay, where he had a home for more than 25 years’.

Early life

Christopher William Bowerbank was born on 17 November 1940 in Biddestone, Wiltshire.[2][3] He was the son of a Royal Navy Commander, Geoffrey Bowerbank, and Mary Winifred Bowerbank (née Kirtley), and educated at Sherborne School where he shared a study with Nigel Dempster.[2][3] Bowerbank matriculated at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, graduating with a first, and afterwards turned down two scholarship offers to study English at Columbia University, New York.[2][3] Sir Peter Cook was influential on Bowerbank's architectural style.[1]

Architectural career
Redcliffe Mews, largely designed by Christopher Bowerbank

After the AA, Bowerbank attempted a series of apprenticeships which were not to his liking.[2][3] He temporarily and characteristically ended up an escort and driver to Marianne Faithfull through whom he gained a commission to design the headquarters of Impact Records, then the record label of The Rolling Stones.[2][3] The headquarters were never constructed but the experience set up Bowerbank as an independent architect for the rest of his professional life.[2][3]

Bowerbank built his practice in London's Fitzrovia, behind Bertorelli's Restaurant on Charlotte Street.[2][3] He was never a modernist in architectural style: when asked to extend or modify an old building, he would not seek to detract from the original, reflecting his respect for British style and tradition.[2][3][7] Bowerbank worked on both residential and commercial buildings and he was noted for his sympathetic restoration of listed buildings, particularly in London.[1][8] His work often required complex negotiations with English Heritage and council planners.[1]

The Convent, Stourhead, before its restoration by Bowerbank

Bowerbank's work included the headquarters for Radiodetection in Bristol, work on Redcliffe Mews in London and Howabreck House on Orkney.[3][9] In 1990, he won an English Heritage award for his renovation work on The Convent in Stourhead, Wiltshire, which was Grade I listed.[10][11]

Personal life

From an early age, Bowerbank was an amateur ornithologist.[2][3] He rarely talked about his professional work, preferring instead to talk about literature, philosophy and the European Union, the latter being a subject on which he was a firm critic.[2][3] At the time of Bowerbank's death he was engaged to Emma Soames, granddaughter of Winston Churchill and then the editor of The Daily Telegraph magazine.[2][3][6]

Bowerbank's great uncle was Sir Fred Thompson Bowerbank, Hon. Physician to King George VI.[5][12] For 25 years, Bowerbank had a home on the island of Orkney, Viera Lodge, where he entertained friends from London and engaged in his love of ornithology.[6][13]

Bowerbank died in his sleep in Notting Hill on 25 April 2002, aged 61.[6]

References
  1. Spike, Paul (3 May 2002). "Obituary: Christopher Bowerbank". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  2. Obituary in The Daily Telegraph, Christopher Bowerbank, 30 April 2002
  3. "Christopher Bowerbank". The Daily Telegraph. 29 April 2002. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  4. Hewitt-McManus, Thomas (13 March 2013). Withnail & I: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Too Drunk to Ask. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN 9781105699726. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  5. "Ancestry – Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  6. Barber, Lynn (1 December 2002). "Lynn Barber meets Emma Soames, the new editor of Saga Magazine". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  7. Holt, Jonathan (15 May 2019). Wiltshire Follies. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9781445684901. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  8. Werner, Frank (1 April 1982). New living in old houses. H.N. Abrams. ISBN 9780810913660. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via Internet Archive. christopher bowerbank .
  9. "English Architect Christopher Bowerbank Dies". artdaily.com. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  10. balancearchitecture (8 November 2018). ""It was pure Folly!" Architectural Follies". Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  11. Gilliatt, Mary (9 February 1991). The Perfect Home. Portland House. ISBN 9780517051818. Retrieved 18 June 2019 – via Google Books.
  12. Bowerbank, Fred (17 June 2019). A doctor's story. Tombs. OCLC 11358841. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via Open WorldCat.
  13. "Will Self on Charles Maclean's St Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World". New Statesman. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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