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Baker School
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[Note (Eds) - for purposes of comprehensiveness Herbert BAKER's own work is included.]
A collective term coined by Geoffrey Eastcott PEARSE (himself a BAKER boy) to cover the works of the young architects who worked either in Herbert BAKER's office or in the employ in the PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT of the ORANGE RIVER COLONY and PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT of the TRANSVAAL COLONY after the years of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Fransen (1982) noted 'Herbert BAKER's school of architecture, with its attention to craftsmanship in detail, traditional use of material and free borrowing of styles, to suit circumstances and/or clients, dominated the scene for decades after Baker's departure in 1913. Keath (1998: 80) includes in the School:
Work produced in his own office and of his own imagination in the years 1902-1913 when he was resident in South Africa, as well as those of his partnerships, these being:
BAKER and FLEMING
BAKER and KENDALL
BAKER and MASEY
BAKER and SCOTT
BAKER, KENDALL and MORRIS
BAKER, MASEY and KENDALL
BAKER, MASEY and SLOPER.
Work carried out by his successors in the firm in the period 1913-20 at the dissolution of the partnership
Work done by previous members of the partnership after 1920
Work of former assistants who established independent practices on leaving
Local contemporary architects inspired by his work but having little or no direct association in practice.
A distinguishing aspect of the style is the Cape Dutch Revival introduced by BAKER under influence of the Queen Anne style then current in England. (Fransen, H. 1982. Three centuries of South African Art. Fine Art, Architecture. Johannesburg: AD Donker; Keath, M. 1998. The Baker School. A continuing tradition. In Fisher, R, le Roux, S with Mare?, e (eds). Architecture of the Transvaal. Pretoria: Unisa)
Postscript from Keath, Michael. The Baker School in Roger C Fisher & Schalk le Roux with Estelle Mare, 1998. Architecture of the Transvaal. Pretoria: University of South Africa. pp, 93.
The principal architects of the Baker School on this site are as follows:
COOK, James Charles (1878-1955)
COWIN, John Morris (1875-1942)— COWIN AND POWERS
EAGLE, Piercy James (1875-1942) — PWD, Pretoria
EMLEY, Frank (1861-1938) — EMLEY AND WILLIAMSON
FLEMING, Francis (Frank) Leonard Hodgson (1875-1950)
KENDALL, Franklin Kaye (1870-1948)
HOOGTERP, John Albert (1892-1972)
LEITH, George Esslemont Gordon (1886-1965)
MARSHALL, Arthur James (1879-1955) — SOLOMAN AND MARSHALL
McCUBBIN, David Aitken (1879-1948)
MASEY, Francis Edward (1861-1912)
MOFFAT, John Abraham (1871-1941)
NEWHAM, William Benjamin Turner (1894-1975)
PEARSE, Geoffrey Eastcote (1885-1968)
PILKINGTON, Henry Lionel Gordon (1866-1968)
PORTER, Harold Nixon (1883-1958)
RALSTON, John (1878-1955)
REES-POOLE, Vivian Sydney (1883-1965)
REID, Arthur Henry (1856-1922) — AH REID AND EAST
ROBERTSON, James David (1877-1945)
SLOPER, Ernest Willmott (1871-1916) — BAKER AND SLOPER
SMALL, Charles (-1954)
SOLOMON, Joseph Michael (1886/8-1920)
SPICER, Harold Wolseley (1883-1964)
STUCKE, William Henry (1865-1931) — STUCKE AND HARRISON
WATERSON, John (1864-1934) — WATERSON AND VEALE
WILLMOTT, Ernest (see SLOPER)
Buildings on this website in Baker School style
Church of St Barnabas: 1896. Tamboers Kloof, Cape Town, Western Cape  |
Clumber Methodist Church School: 1900s. Bathurst, Eastern Cape  |
| Post Office: 1937. Sabie, Mpumalanga |
| Post Office: 1936. Parys, Free State |
| St Andrew's Church: 1894. Newlands, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| St Barnabas Church: 1896. Cape Town, Western Cape |
| St Boniface Church: 1910. Germiston, Gauteng |
| St John the Divine, Memorial Church: 1901. Mahikeng, North West |
| St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church: 1898 : 1904. Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Barclays Bank - First National Bank Headquarters: 1933. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape |
| Reserve Bank: 1927 - 1930. Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng |
| St Dunstan's Anglican Church: 1909. Benoni, Gauteng |
| St John the Baptist: 1913. Vaalwater, Limpopo |
| Westminster Estate Buildings: Stables: 1904. Tweespruit, Free State |
| Westminster Estate Buildings: The Big House: 1904. Tweespruit, Free State |
| Westminster Estate Buildings: The Schoolhouse: 1906. Tweespruit, Free State |