Charles Francis Annesley Voysey


Charles Francis Annesley Voysey


Voysey was born May 28th, 1857, in Hessle, Yorkshire and died February 12th 1941. He was a British architect and designer whose work was influential in Europe between 1890 and 1910. Voysey was the son of Charles Voysey, the founder of the Theistic Church.

 In 1880, he became the assistant to George Devey who was a country house designer. And then in 1882, Voysey set up his own business in London and quickly became a successful wallpaper designer and textiles designer. He took inspiration from Art Nouveau and artists such as Arthur Mackmurdo and William Morris. In 1888, he designed a series of small houses which were published in ‘The British Architect’, which resulted in him receiving multiple commissions. Voysey’s reputation rapidly increased which meant that by 1895, his work was widely publicized in British and European journals.
The Pastures, North Luffenham, Leicestershire (1901)


Voysey rejected all the classical ideas of architectural teaching and became a supporter of Agustus Pugin and John Ruskin. He used their theories to design simple, well built buildings. Inside his buildings, there was often a nature related theme, an old cottage style, they were long and low and had clean lines, while on the exterior, there were white roughcast wall, high pitched roofs, and massive chimneys. 

Some examples of homes he built are:
-  Broadleys, Near Windermere, Westmorland (1898)
-  The Orchard, Chroley Wood, Hertfordshire (1899-1900)
-  The Pastures, North Luffenham, Leicestershire (1901)


Voysey designed no major buildings after 1914 and also wrote two books, ‘Reason as the Basis of Art’ (1906) and ‘Individuality’ (1915).