The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings. It was reconstituted as a government department in 1851 and became part of the Ministry of Works in 1940.

The organisation of the office varied; senior posts included Surveyor of the King's Works (1578–1782) and Comptroller of the King's Works (1423–1782). In 1782 these offices were merged into Surveyor-General and Comptroller. From 1761 there were named Architects. The office also had posts of Secretary, Master Mason and Master Carpenter.

After James Wyatt's death in 1813 a non-professional Surveyor-General was appointed: Major-General Sir Benjamin Stephenson. He was assisted by three "Attached Architects": Sir John Soane, John Nash and Sir Robert Smirke. This arrangement ended in 1832 with the formation of the Works Department, when architect Henry Hake Seward was appointed Surveyor of Works and Buildings.[1]

Surveyor of the King's Works

Comptroller of the King's Works

Surveyor-General and Comptroller

Deputy Surveyor

Surveyor of the King's Private Roads

Surveyor of Royal Gardens

  • 1660–1670 Adrian May
  • 1670–1684 Hugh May

Superintendent of all the King's Gardens

Surveyor of Gardens and Waters

Paymaster of the Works

Architect of the Works

Secretary to the Board of Works

References

  1. Roberts, Jane (1997). Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. Yale University Press. p. 515. ISBN 978-0-300-07079-8.
  2. Raumolin-Brunberg, Helena; Nevalainen, Terttu. Sociolinguistics and Language History: Studies Based on the Corpus of Early English Correspondence. Rodopi. p. 114. ISBN 978-90-5183-982-1. ... [Robert Shiryngton] served as the controller of the King's works from 1423 to 1452.
  3. "Lot 61 | Peter Idley, instructions to his son, in Middle English Verse with sections of Latin prose, manuscript on vellum". Artfact. 2006. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21. ...held office as Controller of the King's Works throughout the kingdom from 1456 until about 1461.

Sources

  • H. M. Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840 (1997) ISBN 0-300-07207-4
  • H. M. Colvin, The History of the King's Works, London: H.M.S.O. (1963–1982)
    • ISBN 0-11-670571-X
    • ISBN 0-11-670568-X (v.3,pt 1)
    • ISBN 0-11-670832-8 (v.4,pt 2)
    • ISBN 0-11-670571-X (v.5)
    • ISBN 0-11-670286-9 (v.6)
    • ISBN 0-11-671116-7 (Plans 5-7)
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