The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Butterfield, William
1814–1900, English Gothic-revival architect. Favored by the Ecclesiological Society for his Puginlike correctness in recalling Gothic forms, Butterfield rose to prominence in the middle of the 19th cent. The brilliant polychromy that he created through his combinations of brick, stone, and tile (e.g., All Saints’ Church, London; 1849–59) introduced the High Victorian Gothic manner. The softer hues of the interior and the variously textured stone of the church at Baldersby St. James near Beverley in Yorkshire (1856) mark what is perhaps Butterfield’s finest church. General interest in polychromy soon waned, but Butterfield continued in this mode with Keble College, Oxford (1868–70), and several buildings at Rugby School (1868–72).
