Who was Richard Tress?
Richard Tress was an architect who worked in the mid-19th century.
Life and Work
Tress commenced practice as an architect and surveyor in the City of London in 1835, in George Street, Mansion House. He was in partnership with Mr. Francis Chambers for many years.
Richard Tress designed the Corn Exchange in Saffron Walden in the Italianate style, built in brick with a stucco finish and was completed in February 1849. He was also the architect for Ravensknowle House including the Park which was built about 1860 for John Beaumont, a woollen manufacturer and designer. The grounds were laid out and planted under the direction of landscape gardener William Pontey, of Kirkheaton.
Tress designed a Victorian workhouse in the Mile End Road, London. The workhouse was built in the mid 19th century, it apparently had central heating, marble pillars, a chapel with an organ and stained glass windows and a dining hall one hundred feet long. Over time the function of the building changed. It became a general infirmary, a place for the long-term sick and then became a psychiatric hospital in 1936, where the original name of the building (St Clements) was reinstated.
He was buried at Highgate.
Sources:
- 100 Items About the Museum and Huddersfield - Friends of Tolson and Ravensknowle, Museum of Huddersfield.
- Stables To Ravensknowle Hall - Historic England website
- Ringing London's changes at St Clements in Mile End - The Guardian Newspaper, 26th July 2015