Tributes Paid to Architect Who Fell in Love with Hogarth's House
Wyndham Westerdale played a large role in its conservation and refurbishment
Wyndham Westerdale, architect, 1955-2022
Tributes are being paid to Wyndham Westerdale an architect who died recently and is credited with playing a large part in the preservation of Hogarth’s House.
The Chairman of the William Hogarth Trust, Val Bott, said, “Wyndham Westerdale fell in love with Hogarth’s House and spent a generous amount of time, some of it unpaid, on its conservation and refurbishment. He was introduced to the William Hogarth Trust by his colleagues, Charles Lawrence and David Wrightson, who founded what became AcanthusLW, the architects’ firm based in Chiswick’s Voysey House.
“Wyndham and I, with advice from the late Treve Rosoman, worked closely on better understanding the Grade I Listed building in order to develop clear ideas for its refurbishment and its re-presentation to visitors. This was a really enjoyable process. While Wyndham drew up specifications for the work required, I devised the storylines about its past use as a home and the range of people who had lived there, responding to discussions with visitors. This underpinned Hounslow Council’s grant bids, including to the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
When external funding was secured for the House, he was appointed to manage the contract. Things were proceeding smoothly and the displays and furnishings were about to be installed when a fire broke out in the middle of the night on 14 August 2009 (23 years ago to the day).
Val Bott says, “We were able to rely on Wyndham’s calm and immediate response, devising a scheme for the repairs and the new Listed Building Consent application. He oversaw this work with great care and thoughtfulness. When I was awarded an MBE for services to the heritage (that is mainly for Hogarth’s House) Wyndham was one of my three guests at Buckingham Palace, along with my husband and our friend Sheila O’Connell, the then British Museum Hogarth expert, and we had a fabulous celebration lunch at The Wolseley afterwards.”
When the Trust embarked on a new Hogarth’s House partnership with Hounslow Council, Wyndham and his colleagues were again involved. Steve Pike designed a learning and events building, the Weston Studio, and Wyndham remained involved throughout the project.
Val Bott says the last time she saw him was in the late summer of 2021, when they shared a goodbye hug, shortly before he embarked on his ambitious farewell trip to Scotland.
Wyndham was born in Nottingham and gained took a degree in general architectural studies at the University of Bath before obtaining a postgraduate diploma in architecture at Portsmouth Polytechnic in 1981 and a master’s degree at Manchester in 1983. He worked for London Borough of Newham and the Inner London Education Authority until he entered the private sector joining Acanthus Architects in 2002. In his spare time he was involved with a number of bodies concerned with conservation, including the Twentieth Century Society, the Georgian Group and the Vernacular Architecture Group.
Wyndham Westerdale died aged 66 from complications arising from lung cancer.
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August 14, 2022