Thomas Hellyer (architect)

Described by Pevsner as a "very individualistic"[2] and "remarkable" architect,[3] his output included churches, houses, schools and hospitals across the island, built during a period of rapid urban development.

Many of his buildings have listed status and he "made important contributions to the appearance of the city" of Portsmouth through his extensive work in the area.

[6] Much of Hellyer's early architectural work involved church design and restoration on the Isle of Wight, where he was active as an architect by 1839.

[14] Between 1845 and 1846, he worked on rebuilding and restoring the parish churches of the Isle of Wight villages of Bembridge and Binstead.

[3][16][17] He then returned to Kingsclere to design a parsonage and a vicarage and to restore and substantially extend the Norman-era St. Mary's Church, all between 1846 and 1850.

[19] At this time he was engaged in rebuilding work at St. Mary's Church in Thatcham, Berkshire, and designing buildings at Laverstoke Mill in Hampshire.

[15] Both are small Gothic Revival-style stone chapels with narrow lancet windows (a characteristic feature of Hellyer's churches);[20] Seaview has been enlarged several times and has lost its spire, but much of Hellyer's work survives,[21][22] and Havenstreet (where he also designed a parsonage)[15] has a distinctively steep roof topped with a bell-cot.

[20][23] In Ryde during this decade, he altered Westfield Park House, a large villa of 1811, on behalf of its new owner Augustus Clifford—his work included the combined porch and tower at the front, "evoking Osborne House"—[15][24] and he designed a National school on Green Street (1856–57).

[29] There followed his major work of the 1870s: he built the National Hospital of Diseases of the Chest at Ventnor over a period of approximately ten years from 1869.

[15][35] Hellyer undertook a lot of work at the Royal Isle of Wight County Hospital in Ryde, of which he was Honorary Architect and Life Governor.

[15][38][39] Hellyer was closely involved in civic life in Ryde and "took great interest in town affairs".

He undertook similar duties on the island's Burial Board and Cemetery Committee, and was elected to the Ryde Commissioners in 1854.

The "unusual" three-bay villa is of pale brown brick "embellished in idiosyncratic ways" with multicoloured brickwork and stucco dressings.

Hellyer's specialism in ecclesiastical architecture influenced Withers' career: he went on to work on nearly 100 churches in Britain and Europe.