Reginald Annandale Cordingley

• Born                      12 March 1896, Sale Cheshire.
• Married                1925, Madeleine Eugenie Tardieu; one son.
• Died                       28 November 1962

 Reginald Annandale Cordingley was born at Sale, Cheshire on 12 March 1896 the son of James Cordingley and Ellen Mary Annandale. At the age of 15 he was articled to Robert J McBeath FRIBA of Sale and attended the evening classes at the Manchester Technical College. His studies were interrupted by the 1914-18 War when he served for four years in the Royal Fusiliers and later in the Royal Engineers.

His distinguished career began only after World War I when, in 1919, he entered the School of Architecture of Manchester University under James Lindsay Grant. Here he won a number of prizes including the Henry Jervis Travelling Scholarship in 1920 and 1921 and the Manchester Institute of Builders Travelling Scholarship in 1922. In 1923 he was the first holder of a new travelling scholarship to the value of £300 established by the Society of Architects offered for the study of modern architecture and methods in the United States. He received a B.A. Hons. Arch. first class, in 1922 and became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, in the same year. Assistant Lecturer in Architecture, at Manchester University 1922-1923. Finally in 1923 he was awarded the Rome Scholarship in Architecture, attending the British School in Rome, 1923-1926.

On his return to England, he was appointed lecturer at Durham University and resident architect of Durham Cathedral and was responsible for the restoration of important parts of the cathedral as well as a number of churches and other buildings in the north-east.  He also embarked on private practice in partnership with Donald McIntyre as Cordingley and McIntyre, Durham and Manchester. R A Cordingley had a profound appreciation of historic building but at the same time he was aware of a growing feeling towards a contemporary style of architecture. Thus, in the mid-1930s the practice was designing “modern movement” houses alongside their more traditional church restoration work. However, their major commission of the period was the Central Library, Chelmsford Civic Centre (1933-1935). In 1929 R A Cordingley had been appointed Master of Architecture at Armstrong College, Durham University, and remained as Director, of the School of Architecture and Town Planning, until 1933.

R A Cordingley succeeded Professor W C Dickie in the Chair of Architecture at Manchester University in 1933. the same year he was elected a Fellow of the RIBA. He continued a small private practice but concentrated his energies in the direction of research into the regional characteristics of domestic architecture in England. This subject was his greatest interest and in the course of many years a survey of the greatest part of the English countryside was completed. His final contribution was to revise entirely the standard work "The History of Architecture on the Comparative Method" by Sir Bannister Fletcher. In 1955 Cordingley was entrusted by the Royal Institute of British Architects and the University of London with the preparation of a new edition of the book. Since its first publication in 1896 this book had grown through 16 editions to a volume of over 1,100 pages, and had acquired a firmly established reputation, but it was in much need both of detailed updating and of extension into the modern period. Although Cordingley was carrying the full burden of the direction of a great school of architecture, the laborious task of revision was completed within five years and the new edition, expanded to almost 1,400 pages, appeared in 1961. Cordingley’s editorial work on the book “exemplified some of his most characteristic qualities; great general knowledge, sober but markedly independent judgement, and a patient tenacity of purpose.”

R A Cordingley died suddenly in hospital 28 November 1962; the funeral service and committal taking place at the Manchester Crematorium on 1 December 1962.

One aspect of his personality seized upon by his obituary writers was a surprising reticence. The Times noted “Cordingley’s shyness and modesty caused him to withdraw from all but the most essential public duties, which he nevertheless filled with distinction. His social reserve, however, probably denied him the full public recognition and honour which his work merited but which he would have been embarrassed to receive. He maintained his indefatigable energy and enthusiasm to the very end of a long and distinguished career.”  The Guardian obituary similarly concluded  “He was reticent, shy and modest and had virtually no social life other than was required by his duty as a professor. His garden, his students and his research were his life.”

Address
1933-1962    School of Architecture University of Manchester, 244 Oxford Road, Manchester 13.

Residence
1923        R A Cordingley, Glenorelly, Irlam Road, Sale
1962        Sunnyside, Moss Lane, Sale,