Sir Alfred Waterhouse 1830 - 1905

A Quaker from Liverpool, Waterhouse became a leading architect of the high Victorian period, designing large-scale civic, commercial and educational buildings in the Gothic style. He started in practice at Manchester where he won competitions for the Town Hall and the Assize Courts, both excellently planned in a free picturesque Gothic.

His work is fiercely individual and easily recognisable for its weight, dignity and power. The Natural History Museum in London is probably his best known building; however, he also designed several major hospitals, universities and prisons, including Strangeways in Manchester, and many of the principal offices of the Prudential Assurance Company.