Frank Ernest Howard

Biographical summary

Frank Ernest Howard (1888–1934), commonly referred to as F.E. Howard, was a prolific designer of church furnishings based on his deep knowledge of ecclesiastical art and architecture in the Middle Ages. His work can be found throughout Great Britain but especially within the south of England close to his home base of Oxford where he lived for all his adult life. He also carried out commissions outside the British Isles as a result of his connection with the Warham Guild. His particular expertise and interest was in medieval church woodwork and he was the author, with F.H. Crossley, of an extensive and authoritative work on the subject, English church woodwork : a study in craftsmanship during the mediaeval period A.D. 1250–1550 (1917), a lavishly illustrated volume which was produced to a remarkably high standard, considering its date of publication during the depths of the Great War. Howard was responsible for all of the text and for the majority of the drawings. A second edition appeared in 1927 and was reissued in 1933. A facsimile reprint appeared in 2007, the work still being regarded as an authoritative source on the subject. His other major published work was Mediaeval styles of the English parish church, which was published posthumously in 1936. It is a wide-ranging and detailed guide to the ways in which church architecture evolved during the Middle Ages and is still frequently cited as an authority; a facsimile reprint of this work too appeared in 2007. He was an active member of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland from 1909 until his death; he contributed several weighty articles to its transactions, the Archaeological Journal, and presented papers on similar subjects at meetings of the Institute which were not subsequently published.

Howard was a pupil of Sir Ninian Comper whose style and teachings had a strong influence on his own work. He was connected with the Warham Guild following its establishment in 1912 and under its auspices he designed many altars and altar screens (i.e. reredoses), all of which were examples of the English altar favoured by Comper. Further work was carried out for the church fitters, A.R. Mowbray, or was commissioned directly by the churches concerned. His work was always in a medieval style, within which he was capable of producing work that was both historically correct and aesthetically satisfying. As well as designing church furnishings and fittings he was also responsible for the restoration or extension of several churches, work which was always done sensitively and with a feel for the original structure, although by the time he was in a position to undertake such work the opportunities were rare.

Howard died in a nursing home in Oxford at the age of 46 on 15 April 1934. His funeral took place in St Margaret's church, Oxford and he is buried in Abingdon cemetery. Many of his design and working drawings of interior fittings are now held by the English Heritage Archive.

Publications

Architectural work

No complete corpus of Howard's work is known to exist. The following list is derived from searches of published works in the fields of church history and architecture (e.g. The Buildings of England and related series) and of the internet. It is very likely that it can be enlarged to a considerable extent from descriptions of his work in local parish histories and similar works. It is also likely that work attributed generically to the Warham Guild, e.g. in Anson's Fashions in church furnishings 1840–1940, p. 312 are in fact by Howard.

Berkshire

Cambridgeshire

Gloucestershire

Unless shown otherwise, details are from the appropriate entries in Pevsner or the Gloucester diocesan archives (Gloucestershire Archives. GDR/F1/1)

Hertfordshire

Lancashire

London

Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire

Somerset

Suffolk

Sussex

Warwickshire

Wiltshire

Wales

Scotland

Canada

South Africa