William Henry Crossland

Born in Huddersfield and baptised on 10 May 1835, he was the younger son of Henry Crossland, a stonemason, and his wife, Eleanor (née Wilkinson).[2] He had an elder brother, James.[4] In the 1850s Crossland became a pupil of George Gilbert Scott.[4] He worked with Scott on the design of the model village Akroydon, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, commissioned by the worsted manufacturer, Edward Ackroyd.

Crossland developed his own architectural practice, and worked in Huddersfield, Halifax and Leeds, before moving to Surrey.[5] More than 25 of the buildings he designed are listed by Historic England.[6]

Crossland's three most important commissions, all now Grade I listed, were:

• Rochdale Town Hall, built 1866–71 and still in use as a municipal building in Rochdale, now in Greater Manchester. The Town Hall functions as the ceremonial headquarters of Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council and houses local government departments, including the borough's civil registration office. Art critic Nikolaus Pevsner described the building as possessing a "rare picturesque beauty".[7] Its stained glass windows are credited as "the finest modern examples of their kind".[8] Historic England describe it as "an important early departure from High Victorian heaviness".[9] and it is "widely recognised as being one of the finest municipal buildings in the country".[8] Following a fire, Crossland's original clock tower was replaced in 1887 by a stone clock tower and spire designed by Alfred Waterhouse in the style of Manchester Town Hall.

• Holloway Sanatorium at Virginia Water, Surrey,[3] built 1873–85.[10] This was a project commissioned by the philanthropist Thomas Holloway.[11] Historic England describe it as "the most elaborate and impressive Victorian lunatic asylum in England, because it was the most lavish to be built for private patients... The quality of the external design and the decoration of the principal spaces is exceptional. It is the only example to be listed in grade I."[10] The Sanatorium is preserved and restored, and is now in use as luxury flats. In 1997–98 the site became a gated residential estate, and was renamed Virginia Park.[12]

• The Founder's Building at Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey, also commissioned by Thomas Holloway and built 1883–88.[13] It is a short distance away from the Sanatorium. The Founder's Building is now the main building of a major college of the University of London; the bar in the building is named "Crosslands".[14]

The Holloway Sanatorium and Royal Holloway College were inspired by the Cloth Hall of Ypres in Belgium and the Château de Chambord[13] in the Loire Valley, France, respectively and are considered by some to be among the most remarkable buildings in the south of England.

• 
  Crossland's plan of Rochdale Town Hall, published in The Builder in 1866
• 
  Rochdale Town Hall (1874) with Crossland's original clock tower
• 
  Rochdale Town Hall with tower as rebuilt (1887) to Alfred Waterhouse's design
• 
  Holloway Sanatorium, Virginia Water, Surrey (1884). Wood-engraving from the Illustrated London News, 5 January 1884
• 
  Holloway Sanatorium
• 
  Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey
• 
  Royal Holloway College

John Elliott provides a catalogue of Crossland's works (based on a compilation by Edward Law which is deposited at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in London).[3] They include many buildings in Yorkshire, some of them listed by Historic England:

Crossland disappeared from RIBA records in 1894–95.

On 1 October 1859,[3][40] Crossland married Lavinia Cardwell Pigot (who died in 1876).[nb 1] They had one child – a daughter, Maud, born in 1860.[1] Crossland also had an illegitimate son, Cecil Henry Crossland Hatt, with Eliza Ruth Hatt (died 1892), an actress with whom he lived in a bungalow on the Royal Holloway site.[1]

He died in London on 14 November 1908 following a stroke.[2][3] His estate at his death was worth just £29-2s–9d (£29.14). Crossland's wife, his brother James Crossland, his partner Eliza Ruth Hatt, his daughter Maud and his son Cecil are buried at Highgate Cemetery. Although there is a memorial to him at the cemetery, at Crossland's specific request he himself was not buried there.[3] His place of burial is unknown.

• Binns, Sheila (2020). W.H. Crossland: An Architectural Biography. The Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978-0718895488
• Law, Edward (1992). "William Henry Crossland, biography and works". Edward Law. Retrieved 29 January 2021.

• Architects of Greater Manchester 1800–1940: William Crossland. Retrieved 30 January 2021

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