Who was Sir Herbert Baker?

Sir Herbert Baker was one of the most outstanding and prolific British architects, of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The sheer quantity of his work is quite breathtaking – The Indian Parliament and government buildings in New Delhi, the South African government building in Pretoria, three cathedrals, numerous houses, churches, several embassies, railway stations, offices and banks (including the rebuilding of The Bank of England in London), university buildings, medical research facilities, schools and war memorials throughout almost every country of, what was then, the British Empire.

Born in Kent in 1862, he served his architectural pupillage in London before travelling to South Africa, opening an office first in Cape Town, where he built homes, offices, churches and the Anglican Cathedral, and later in Johannesburg, where he designed not only numerous grand houses for the wealthy ‘Randlords’ but also schools, churches and in Pretoria, the railway station, Government House and in 1912, the buildings for the new government of South Africa – The Union Buildings. Completion of this vast complex qualified Baker ideally for his next major challenge – the creation of the new capital of British India – New Delhi.

Baker and Edwin Lutyens were appointed together, as partners, to undertake the design of the major new buildings. Lutyens was awarded the Viceroy’s House, while Baker undertook the design of the two principal Government buildings – The Secretariats – each similar in scale to the Palace of Westminster. Much-delayed by the First World War, construction progressed at a snail’s pace, and with constitutional reforms enacted in 1919, Baker was then commissioned to design the new Indian Parliament, which was finally completed along with the other Government buildings in 1931.

The war had brought further work for both Baker and Lutyens as they were appointed as Principal Architects to the newly established Commonwealth War Graves Commission.Baker would go on to oversee over 100 of the war cemeteries in France and Belgium as well as being commissioned to undertake the South African and Indian memorials and a memorial to The Missing, adjacent to his war cemetery at Tyne Cot – the largest of all of his poignant graveyards. In England, he was commissioned to provide not only city, town and village memorials but also memorials for Eton and Harrow Schools, and Winchester College.

The New Delhi commission prompted Baker to move back to London and he soon established what was to become one of the most successful architectural practices of the 1920’s and 30’s. He completed a series of further ‘Empire’ buildings including South Africa House on Trafalgar Square, India House on The Aldwych, The Royal Empire Society building on Northumberland Avenue, Rhodes House in Oxford and, in 1921, he was awarded the commission to rebuild the Bank of England.

By the 1930s Baker was now in his 70s, and his young partner Alexander Scott began to shoulder more and more responsibility. Throughout his career Baker remained the same rather quiet, thoughtful man, and maintained his constant commitment to orchestrating the contributions of artists and craftsmen in all his building designs. He enjoyed both a wide circle of friends, which included Rudyard Kipling, Lawrence of Arabia and John Buchan, and the recognition of his peers, resulting in both a knighthood and the award of the Royal Institute of British Architect’s Gold Medal.

He died at Owletts, his home in Kent in 1946, and was honoured with a burial at Westminster Abbey, amongst his many friends.