Office of Works

See also Ministry of Works (United Kingdom) and Property Services Agency.

The Office of Works was an organisation responsible for structures and exterior spaces, first established as part the English royal household[citation needed] in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences.

In 1832 it became the Works Department within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings. It was reconstituted as a government department in 1851, which in 1940 and became part of the Ministry of Works.

Organisation and key positions

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Surveyor, Comptroller and Architect

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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.

Comptroller of the King's Works Surveyor of the King's Works
Surveyor-General and Comptroller


After the death of the Surveyor-General and Comptroller James Wyatt 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.[3]

Other positions included Surveyor of the King's Private Roads, various roles with responsibility for gardens, and later, Deputy Surveyor.

Surveyor of the King's Private Roads Surveyor of Royal Gardens Deputy Surveyor
Superintendent of all the King's Gardens
Surveyor of Gardens and Waters


Administrative positions

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Paymaster of the Works Secretary to the Board of Works

The office also had posts of Secretary, Master Mason and Master Carpenter.

References

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ Roberts, Jane (1997). Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. Yale University Press. p. 515. ISBN 978-0-300-07079-8.

Sources

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