Name

Edwin Henry Lingen Barker

Designation
architect
Born
1838
Place of Birth
Hereford
Location
Hereford
Died
1917

  • Birth date            3 November 1839 at Hereford
  • Baptism               9 December 1839
  • Married                7 September 1871 to Eliza Anne Bamford at Wimborne Minster, Dorset
  • Death date           27 January 1917 at London
  • Burial                   Hereford

Only in his later years did E H Lingen Barker practice in the Greater Manchester area when he became involved in a movement for the erection of low-cost churches necessary to meet the needs of the growing populations in large industrial centres. An important step in the progress of the movement was taken in February, 1907, when Sir W. H. Houldsworth, Bart. at a meeting of the Bishop of Manchester's Commission at Manchester, pleaded for the careful consideration of the cost of the churches, which were to be built with the help of money granted by the Commission, and strongly urged the building of a church at a cost of £8 a sitting. Lingen Barker was forthwith commissioned to prepare plans for various churches in the Manchester Diocese, opening a Manchester office in 1908.

Edwin Henry Lingen Barker was born at Hereford on the 3rd November, 1839. He is the eldest son of the Rev. J. H. Barker, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge, his mother being descended from the Lingens, owners of the Sutton and Stoke Edith estates, in the county of Hereford. He was educated at Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, and in Cheshire. In 1855, at the age of fifteen, he became articled to a firm of London architects. He spent nearly seven years in the offices of the Messrs Habershon and Sir Digby Wyatt, eventually becoming manager and sole designer of a large building estate belonging to Sir Culling Eardley, near Erith, in Kent, which has since become known as the town of Belvidere. About this period he studied and passed the necessary examinations for membership of the Royal Academy of Arts, and spent some time each year sketching in France, Belgium, and Germany, for the purpose of laying-in a stock of professional knowledge to turn to useful account in later years. Eventually Sir Gilbert Scott proposed, and Professor Hayward seconded him, as” a fit and proper person to be a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects," although it is not known if he accepted the invitation.

In 1861 he commenced practice as an architect on his own account, opening an office in Portsea Place, near the Marble Arch. In 1862, however, he left London to take up his residence in Hereford.  Though Mr Barker has resided in Hereford since 1862, he has kept up his London offices and connection. Having achieved a reputation for economy through carrying out sundry first-class elementary schools in London at less than half the cost at which the London School Board were building, he was in 1875 consulted by a special committee of that Board, presided over by Lord Napier and Ettrick, who subsequently certified that Mr Lingen Barker's intelligent and practical assistance had been useful to the committee and instrumental towards introducing a cheaper method of construction, of which London still felt the benefit.

A prolific architect, Lingen Barker's name was probably best known in the county of Somerset and in South Wales, owing to the economy with which his designs there, especially those for churches and schools, have been carried out. By 1889, he has been the architect of nearly 300 buildings of various kinds in 26 different counties, some 80 or more of these being churches. Appointed architect to nine School Boards in England and Wales, his low average of only £4 16s. 2d. per child for 29 schools erected from Pembroke in the west to Kent in the east, was exceptional.

During his professional career Lingen Barker regularly opened branch offices nearer to his various commissions. On two occasions he also took another architect into a short-term partnership – Cross at Weston s Mare in 1889 and Ellis at Bristol 1906-1911. In 1905 he took his son, Edwin Noel Barker into partnership under the style Lingen Barker and Son, presumably with the intention of passing on the business. However, in 1910, Edwin Noel abandoned architecture, subsequently moving to London.  The Building News obituary refers to him being a member of the firm of Lingen Barker and Anthony Barker, but little has been found regarding Anthony Barker.

in 1871 Lingen Barker married Eliza Ann, the youngest daughter of a distinguished Anglo-Indian officer, Colonel Bamford of the 73rd Regiment, who on his return to England received an important appointment on the Staff.

Edwin Henry Lingen Barker, died of heart failure on 27 January 1916 at his residence, Moscow Court, London W. The funeral took place at Hereford.

Publications:
"Parish Churches of the Diocese of St. David's"  and "Warwickshire Parish Churches"

Obituaries: 
Building News 31 January 1917 page 110
Building News v112, 7 Feb 1917, p131;
Builder v112, 9 Feb 1917, p101

Address
1861    Portsea Place, near Marble Arch
1862    E. H. Lingen Barker, 30, Upper Berkeley-street, London
1866    8, St Owen Street Hereford
1882    E. H. Lingen Barker, Architect. 1, Palace Yard, Hereford [Pembrokeshire Herald 2 June 1882]
1890    146 St Owen Street Hereford
1899    EH Lingen Barker 89 Chancery Lane WC (Post Office Directory)
1915    4 Moscow Court, Moscow Road W  (London Post Office Directory)

Branch/Temporary Offices
1866        Worcester
1873-1876    Haverfordwest
1877-1878    Tenby
1884             Oswestry
1885-1893    Goat Street, Swansea
1889             Lingen Barker and Cross, architects, 9 West Street, Weston s Mare. [Kelly 1889]
1890             30 Broad Street, Leominster
1904-1911    Bristol (Edwin Henry Lingen Barker, Son and Ellis)
1908-1914    E H Lingen Barker, King Street, Manchester (Slater)

Residence
1881-1885    1 Shrubb Hill Villas Folly Lane, Tupsley Hereford (Census/ directory)
1885-1890    “Ferncroft”  (1 Lichfield Ave) Ledbury Road Hereford  (Directory)
1901             Tupsley, Herefordshire
1906            11 Bloomsbury Mansions London
1911            Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester (boarder)
1915-1917    4 Moscow Court, Moscow Road W  (London Post Office Directory)

Buildings and Designs

Building Name District Town/City County Country
Church of the Good Shepherd, Entwisle Road, Rochdale   Rochdale  GMCA  England
St Paul’s Church Stuart Street Bradford Manchester Bradford  Manchester  GMCA  England
Church of St Mark Blackbrook Haydock Blackbrook  Haydock  Merseyside  England
Church of St. Luke Kenyon Lane Lightbowne Moston Manchester Moston  Manchester  GMCA  England
Church of St Phillip Bolton Great Lever  Bolton  GMCA  England
St Jerome Beswick (The Houghton Memorial Church) Beswick  Manchester  GMCA  England
Christ Church, Alumhurst Road, Westbourne, Bournemouth Westbourne  Bournemouth  Dorset  England
Church of St Donard (CI), Beersbridge Road and Bloomfield Road, Belfast, Co Antrim   Belfast  Co Antrim  Northern Ireland
Parochial Hall etc. Ardwick, Manchester Ardwick  Manchester  GMCA  England
Chancel; Church of the Good Shepherd, Entwisle Road, Rochdale   Rochdale  GMCA  England
Additions: Jolesfield C.E. Schools, Partridge Green West Grinstead Partridge Green  West Grinstead  West Sussex  England
North Aisle and Vestry: Church of St. Mary, Stapleton, Fishponds Bristol Fishponds  Bristol  Gloucestershire  England
Church of All Saints, Grove Road, Fishponds, Bristol Fishponds  Bristol  Gloucestershire  England
Church of St John, Lodge Causeway, Fishponds Bristol, Fishponds  Bristol  Gloucestershire  England
St. Andrew's Church Schools, Wellington Road, Portslade, Hove, East Sussex Portslade  Hove  East Sussex  England
Infants School, Potters Bar, Middlesex   Potters Bar  Hertfordshire  England
Alterations and Additions; J W Morris House Upper Tooting Upper Tooting  London  GLC  England
Villa Residence, Rhayader, Radnorshire   Rhayader  Radnorshire  Wales
Proposed Church of St David, Westbourne Road, Holloway Holloway  London  GLC  England
Repairs: Church of St Madog, Haroldston West, Pembrokeshire   Haroldston West  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Presteign Cemetery Chapels (Architectural Competition)   Presteign  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
National Girls’ School, the Maes, Rhayader, Radnorshire.   Rhayader  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
Alterations and Improvements Parish Church Rosemarket Pembrokeshire   Rosemarket  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Country Residence, Stabling, Lodge, etc., Rhayader, Radnorshire   Rhayader  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
School, and residence attached, for the parish of Llandegley Parish of Llandegley    Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
Church of St Ismael, Uzmaston, Pembrokeshire Uzmaston,    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Walwyn’s Castle Church, Pembrokeshire     Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Peter, Little Newcastle Little Newcastle  Haverfordwest  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Holy Trinity Parish Schools, Draycott Street, Chelsea Chelsea  London  GLC  England
Rhayader Workhouse (Architectural Competition)   Rhayader  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
St Jude’s Schools, Turk’s Row, Upper Chelsea Chelsea  London  GLC  England
National Schools and master’s residence, St. Harmon’s, Radnorshire St. Harmon’s    Radnorshire, Powys  England
Detached residence near Rhayader, Radnorshire, for the Rev. J. Williams   near Rhayader  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
St James's Vicarage Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
Residence on the Abbey Hill, Kenilworth, Abbey Hill  Keniworth  Warwickshire  England
Church of St Justinian, Fraystrop, Pembrokeshire Freystrop  near Haverfordwesy  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Schools and offices, Capcoch and Penywain, Aberdare Capcoch and Penywain  Aberdare    Wales
Herwain Joint Schools, Aberdare Herwain  Aberdare    Wales
School buildings, with teacher's residence, Crugybyther, Radnorshire Crugybyther [Crugybuddar]  Elan Valley  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
School buildings, with teacher's residence, Beguildy, Knighton Beguildy  Knighton  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
School buildings and Teacher’s Residence. Langley near Macclesfield Langley  Macclesfield  Cheshire  England
Restorations; Church Whitford Flintshire Whitford  Holywell  Flintshire  Wales
National School, Codford St Mary, near Salisbury Codford St Mary  Salisbury  Wiltshire  England
Three Elementary Schools for Minster-in-Sheppy School Board Minster-in-Sheppy  Sheerness  Kent  England
Schools and teacher's residence, Garway, Herefordshire. Garway    Herefordshire  England
Schools and teacher's residence, Grosmont, Monmouthshire. Grosmont    Monmouthshire  Wales
Schools and teacher's residence, New Inn, Monmouthshire New Inn    Monmouthshire  Wales
New Board Schools, with teacher’s residence, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Harmondsworth  London Borough of Hillingdon  GLC  England
School Buildings, with fittings, offices, and fences, Abernant, Glamorganshire Abernant    Glamorganshire  Wales
Additions to Monkton Combe Collegiate Institution, Bath   Bath    England
Additions to Bryntiriod, near Rhayader, Radnorshire.   Rhayader  Radnorshire, Powys  Wales
Restoration: St Madog's Parish Church, Nolton, Pembrokeshire Nolton  St Bride's Bay  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Additions to St. Mark’s College, Chelsea Chelsea  London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea  GLC  England
School Buildings with Teacher’s Residence, Norton’s Cross, Monmouthshire, Norton's Cross    Monmouthshire  Wales
Schoolhouse and Residence, Woolhope Woolhope    Herefordshire  England
Restoration: Church of St Dogwells, Pembrokeshire St Dogwells    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Former Board School, Well Street, Buckingham   Buckingham  Buckinghamshire  England
St Lawrence, Pembrokeshire     Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Catherine, Granston, Pembrokeshire Granston    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Michael, Garway Herefordshire Garway    Herefordshire  England
Reseating: Church of St Jude Chelsea Chelsea  London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea  GLC  England
Semi-detached residences, St. James’s Estate, Hereford, St James's Estate  Hereford  Herefordshire  England
New vicarage-house, Vowchurch, Herefordshire Vowchurch    Herefordshire  England
Church of St Catherine, Brynamman       Wales
Church of St Thomas, Haverfordwest   Haverfordwest  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St. Cledwyn. Llanglydwen, Carmarthenshire Llanglydwen    Carmarthenshire  Wales
Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Aberaman, near Aberdare Aberaman  Aberdare    Wales
Rebuilding: Church of St. Giles, Letterston, Pembrokeshire Letterston    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St. Peter, Steynton Pembrokeshire Steynton    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Brawdy Church, Pembrokeshire Brawdy    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Llangwm Church Pembrokeshire Llangwm    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St Madog, Haroldston West, Pembrokeshire Haroldston West    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St. Ishmael, Lambston, Pembrokeshire     Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Mary (Llanfair), Gwaun Cae Gurwen, Ammanford, Carmarthenshire Gwaun Cae Gurwen  Ammanford  Carmarthenshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St. Caranog, Llangranog Llangranog    Cardiganshire  England
Abergorlech, Parish Church Carmarthenshire Abergorlech    Carmarthenshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St Brynach Henry’s Mote, Pembrokeshire Henry's Mote  Haverfordwest  Pembrokeshire  Wales
St Thomas’s Sunday School, Haverfordwest   Haverfordwest  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St Michael, Pembroke   Pembroke  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St John the Baptist, Nelson, mid-Glamorgan Nelson    Glamorganshire  Wales
St George’s Church, Llancaiach Llancaiach      Wales
Easton vicarage, Somerset Easton    Somerset  England
Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
Higher Grade School, Coleshill Road, Llanelli   Llanelli    Wales
New School Lakefield Llanelli   Llanelli    Wales
Restoration: Church of St. John the Baptist Morvil Pembrokeshire Movril    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Stephen, Cinderford, Gloucestershire Cinderford    Gloucestershire  England
Church of St David, Morton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire Morton-in-Marsh    Gloucestershire  England
Church of St Anne, Tonna, near Aberdylais Glamorgan Tonna, Aberdylais  Neath  Glamorganshire  Wales
Christ Church, Long Harborough, Oxfordshire     Oxfordshire  England
Mount Street Board Schools, Brecon   Brecon    Wales
Church of St Teilo, Brechfa, Carmarthenshire Brechfa  near Carmarthen  Carmarthenshire  Wales
Six Almshouses, Birmingham Road, Alcester, Warwickshire   Alcester  Warwickshire  England
Intermediate School, Merthyr   Merthyr    Wales
Stanhope Memorial, Market Place, Horncastle, Lincolnshire   Horncastle  Lincolnshire  England
Church of St. Michael, Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire   Stoke Gifford  Gloucestershire  England
Additions: All Saints' Church, Pontardawe, Swansea Valley Pontardawe      Wales
Church of the Holy Trinity, Kingswood, near Bristol Kingswood  near Bristol    England
Restoration: Church of St. Swithin, Barston Lane, Barston, Solihull Barston  Solihull  West Midlands  England
Church of St. Barnabas, Rock Ferry, Birkenhead. Initial Plans Rock Ferry  Birkenhead  Wirral  England
Restoration: Church of St. Mary Bletherston, Pembrokeshire Bletherston    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Church of St Matthew, Monkswood, Usk, Monmouthshire Monkswood  Usk  Monmouthshire  Wales
Vicarage and Schools, Monkswood, Usk Monkswood  Usk  Monmouthshire  Wales
Enlargement: St. Michael & All Angels, Monkton Combe, Bath Somerset Monktoon Combe  Bath  Somerset  England
Alterations and Additions: Church of St. John, Old Kiln Lane, Churt, Farnham Churt  Farnham  Surrey  England
Infirmary, Pembroke Workhouse   Pembroke  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Choir Stalls, Church of St Mary in Liberty, High Street, Tenby, Pembrokeshire   Tenby  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: "The Old House," Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
Restoration: 1 Palace Yard, Hereford,   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
The Bateman Arms, Shobdon, Leominster, Herefordshire Shobdon  Leominster  Herefordshire  England
Restoration: Church of St. Mary, Cilgwyn, Pembrokeshire Cilwyn    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St. Jerome, Llangwm, Pembrokeshire LLangwm    Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Holy Trinity Church, Llansteffan Llanybri, Carmarthenshire Llansteffan Llanybri    Carmarthenshire  Wales
Proposed design: Church of St. James, West Streatham, Surrey West Stretham  London Borough of Lambeth  GLC  England
Restoration: Church of St. Michael, Treffgarne, Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire Treffgarne, Wolfscastle  near Haverfordwest  Pembrokeshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St. Nicholas, Trelleck, Monmouthshire Trelleck  near Monmouth  Monmouthshire  Wales
Restoration: Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Upleadon, Gloucestershire Upleeadon    Gloucestershire  England
Schools, Keynsham, Bristol Keynsham  Bristol  Somerset  England
Board Schools, Bounds Green Road, Tottenham Tottenham  London Borough of Harringay  GLC  England
Board School (Mixed), Salisbury Road, Willesden Willesden  london  GLC  England
Board School Kilburn Kilburn  London  GLC  England
New Board Schools, Elm, near Frome. Elm  near Frome  Somerset  England
Venn's Arch, Commercial Road, Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
New Mission Church, Rugby   Rugby  Warwickshire  England
Proposed Illuminated Fountain Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
“Ferncroft” (1 Lichfield Avenue), Ledbury Road, Hereford   Hereford  Herefordshire  England
Infirmary Receiving Wards and Tramp Wards, Workhouse, Abbeydore, near Hereford Abbeydore  Hereford  Herefordshire  England
Elborough Schools; Rugby   Rugby  Warwickshire  England
Restoration: Parish Church, East Brent, Somersetshire East Brent    Somerset  England
Restoration: Church of All Saints, Seagrave, Leicestershire Seagrave    Leicestershire  England
Memorial Cross, St Cynog's Churchyard, Church Road, Penderyn,   Penderyn  Glamorganshire  Wales

Partnerships

Name Designation Formed Dissolved Location
Barker, EH Lingen and Son Architectural practice 1905 1910 Hereford, London