Lockwood Street, Saltaire

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The only individuals who were not members of either the Royal family or Titus Salt’s own family and who had streets named in their honour were the architects Lockwood and Mawson – no doubt in appreciation of their sustained contribution to the success of the village throughout its building. Henry Francis Lockwood (1811-1878) was born in Doncaster and when only 21 had supervised the extensions to York castle, prior to starting in practice in Hull in 1834.  He moved to Bradford in 1849, where he went into partnership with the younger William Mawson. Over the next 25 years the pair were to dominate Bradford’s architectural scene, and were responsible for not only the splendid planning and architectural features of Saltaire but also many of the great civic buildings of Bradford – St George’s Hall, the Wool Exchange, the Town Hall, and the now demolished but fondly remembered Kirkgate Market, to name a few.

Lockwood was elected first president of the Bradford Society of Architects and Surveyors in 1874, but in that same year – by which time the building of Saltaire had been largely completed – he moved to London to pursue his architectural interests. Living close by Richmond Bridge, Lockwood lived only four more years, but in that short time stamped his presence on the London scene. The best known of his London projects that is still to be seen is the City Temple on Holborn Viaduct. Kensal Green Cemetery holds the architect’s mortal remains, in a modest grave that lies a few metres behind a more elaborate memorial to Blondin, the trapeze artist of Niagara Falls fame.

© Barlo & Shaw