For many years I have been completely obsessed and captivated by the genius of the Victorian architect Frederick Thomas Pilkington. Sadly a great number of his works are unbuilt, unfinished, and even demolished. But for those that remain stand as a testament to his skill as an architect and his talent as an artist who had the ability to shape buildings into works of art.
Trinity Church, Bridgegate, Irvine. (Photo courtesy of the author.)
My first encounter with his work was at an early age. Most Saturdays when I was young my mother, grandmother, my sister and I made the short journey to Irvine to for a look round the shops and to go for our lunch. As we used to walk down the Bridgegate I was always excited to get to the point where I would catch my first glimpse of his Trinity Church sitting aloft the pedestrian area on its own grassy mound. In the 1980s it was in a state of disrepair but yet It was, even then, utterly mesmerizing. Back then I had no idea who was responsible for such an edifice.
It wasn’t until after many years of admiring the building, that when I was studying at Glasgow School of Art I decided to research it as part of a project I was working on that I discovered its creators name, Frederick Thomas Pilkington. With this new knowledge, it catapulted me into an ongoing spiral of intrigue and obsession which is still as potent now as it was then.
I have had the great privilege of visiting many of his works taking time to just stand and admire each one, familiarizing myself with what made his work so unique whilst making myself aware of the visual language in stone that links each of his works together.
Over the past few years I have found out that the more I learn about Pilkington and his works, the more I want to learn. In this blog I’m going to write about what I already know about Pilkington as well as sharing what I learn along the way as I continue my journey into the life and works of this extra ordinary man. Please if you have anything you would like to share with me about Frederick Thomas Pilkington such as a photos or stories about his life or works please get in touch! You can do so by emailing me at: ftpilkington@gmail.com. It would be great to hear from people who admire him the way I do.
In time I would love to compile an online resource of his life and work because as far as I am aware one does not exist so any contributions would be Gratefully appreciated. Many thanks and I hope you enjoy reading!
F. T. Pilkington 