Charles Henry Howell FRIBA (c.1824 – 1905) was the principal architect of lunatic asylums in England during much of the Victorian era. Based in Lancaster Place, London he was a partner in the architects' firm Howell & Brooks.
Howell designed asylums at Broadgate, near Beverley (1868–1871), Moulsford, near Wallingford (1868–1870 and 1877), Brookwood, near Woking (1862–1867), Cane Hill near Coulsdon (1883) and Middlesbrough (1893–1898).[1]
He was Consultant Architect to the Lunacy Commission and was Surveyor of Public Buildings for the County of Surrey from 1860–1893.[2]
Between 1886 and 1897, Howell was the assessor for seven large asylum design competitions, when professional concern was expressed "...[that] Giles, Gough & Trollope or G T Hine always seemed to receive the first two premiums - with the result that any new ideas on asylum design were being stultified".[3]
Other buildings designed by Howell include Christ Church at Shamley Green, Surrey (1864),[4] St Lawrence's Church at Seal Chart, Kent (1867–68),[5] St Leonard's Hill, Windsor, (1875), Ribsden, near Bagshot, Surrey (1876)[6] the outbuildings and hexagonal larder at Eynesham Hall, Oxfordshire and Surrey County Hall. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Howell died on 22 June 1905 at Lynwood, Leatherhead, in Surrey.[7]