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Amon Henry Wilds (1784 or 1790 – 13 July 1857) was an English architect. He was part of a team of three architects and builders who—working together or independently at different times—were almost solely responsible for a surge in residential construction and development in early 19th-century Brighton, which until then had been a small but increasingly fashionable seaside resort on the East Sussex coast. In the 1820s, when Wilds, his father Amon Wilds〔In this article, Amon Henry Wilds is referred to as ''Wilds junior'' and his father Amon Wilds as ''Wilds senior''.〕 and Charles Busby were at their most active, nearly 4,000 new houses were built, along with many hotels, churches and venues for socialising; most of these still survive, giving Brighton a distinctive Regency-era character, and many are listed buildings. ==Life and activities== Amon Henry Wilds was born to Amon Wilds and Sarah Dunn, and was baptised at All Saints Church, Lewes on 4 November 1790. Some sources give his birth year as 1784, but others consider 1790 more likely.〔 〕 At this time, Wilds senior's profession was listed as "carpenter and builder".〔 In around 1806, the father and son established an architectural and building partnership in Lewes,〔 but in 1815 they moved to Brighton, which was experiencing rapid growth; they carried out work in both places for the next five years until they moved permanently to Brighton in 1820.〔〔 Their early work in the town, preceding their relocation, included Richmond Terrace and Waterloo Place. Wilds junior was chiefly responsible for these speculative developments. In 1818, Wilds junior took independent responsibility for a design scheme for the first time: he submitted a design for a new road to connect the ancient Middle Street and West Street. By 1821, the scope of the project had been extended, and Wilds junior ended up supervising the construction of a raised promenade and sea-wall all the way from West Street to East Street, providing a direct east–west link across the town via the seafront for the first time. It was built between 1821 and 1822 and opened by King George IV on 29 January 1822. Named King's Road, it became the town's most important promenading and horse-riding route, and is still a major road.〔 Around the same time, Wilds junior was commissioned to design and build Brighton Unitarian Church for the town's recently established Unitarian community; he laid the foundation stone in 1819 and completed the building the next year. Charles Busby arrived in Brighton in 1822 and formed a loose partnership with the Wilds.〔 Proving who was responsible for particular buildings or projects is difficult and sometimes contradictory because many designs were signed "Wilds and Busby", the three men carried out individual works simultaneously, and Wilds junior established his own independent company as well after 1823.〔〔 Although he still had some involvement with his father and Busby's work, his own projects took up more of his time over the next 25 years: Oriental Place, Sillwood Place, Hanover Crescent, Park Crescent, the Royal Newburgh Assembly Rooms and the Royal Albion Hotel all still exist and are listed buildings. The Anthaeum, a gigantic dome-shaped conservatory he designed for Henry Phillips in 1832–33, collapsed the day before its scheduled opening; Wilds had resigned from the project before its completion because the building contractor was taking risks with the structural integrity of the building. Wilds junior also worked in Gravesend, a town in Kent. His scheme for a new town at Milton, a neighbouring parish, in the 1820s was not carried out, but in 1836 he designed the Town Hall in the Classical style (both the building and the adjacent High Street are dominated by its "noble Greek Doric tetrastyle portico"), and between 1838 and 1841 he designed triumphal arch-style entrance lodges and a chapel at Gravesend Cemetery. These were of brick with pink stucco façades and were also in the Classical/Greek Revival style. Later in his life, Wilds junior experimented in other areas: he invented a new way of cleaning chimneys, proposed a breakwater to protect Brighton's coastline, and served as an officer of the Brighton Commissioners for three years from 1842.〔〔 In 1852, the Commissioners asked him to plant elm trees along the road to Brighton Racecourse; this road became known as Elm Grove. He moved to Shoreham-by-Sea, where he died in 1857.〔 He was buried at the town's St Nicolas' Church. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Amon Henry Wilds」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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