The study of one department of state in relation to its activities in building is at present being undertaken by a group of historians surveying the Office of Works. That Office, however, was certainly not the only department in the late seventeenth century concerned with the construction and management of edifices of national importance. For the Office of Ordnance was one of the most vital building departments during this period with responsibility for the maintenance of all kinds of garrison buildings as well as the erection of fortifications throughout England and later in Scotland and the colonies. It is this concern of the Office for fortifications - without which ‘no monarch, prince or state has been or can be safe in their government’ - that I wish to discuss in this paper.

The extent of the architectural activities of Sir Roger Newdigate (1719–1806) has not yet been examined, though it has long been recognized that his home, Arbury Hall, is one of the most complete examples of the Gothic Revival in domestic architecture. It has also been shown that he was an excellent draughtsman. Two buildings for which drawings from his hand survive will be examined in this article, which concludes with a catalogue of his architectural drawings.

Sir Roger was educated at Westminster School and later at University College, Oxford. He may have studied architecture in his school years, for there is a drawing inscribed in his hand, ‘Architettura de A. Palladio Page 18’, in pencil over a very boyish inscription in ink, ‘Archettara’ (Fig.6a) There is also a portrait of Sir Roger as a boy in the gallery at Arbury Hall by Lens.

In a recent article in this journal Dr Rhodri Liscombe published John Nash's and Robert Smirke's original finished drawings of their specimen church designs of 1818 for the Church Building Commissioners. He also nominated two drawings in the Soane Museum (Figs. 18a & 18b) as ‘almost certainly’ depicting the two specimen church projects by John Soane. However, as will be established here, these two elaborate watercolour drawings illustrate designs, and variations of designs, for three specific churches. Almost all of the drawings which may be associated with Soane's specimen projects are unfortunately lost, excepting only five sheets of rough sketches (Figs.21a-23b), by Soane himself, which remain at the Soane Museum. Nonetheless, it is possible to tell the story of his first substantive adventure as a church architect. This article will provide an analysis of the five existing drawings and an evaluation of the relevant documentary evidence, in an attempt to reconstruct, as far as possible, the designs themselves and the process by which they were created.

Samuel Wyatt (Fig. 24) is best known as an architect of elegant Neo-Classical country houses. This has overshadowed the fact that he was also an engineer of considerable ability, a member of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Some light has been thrown on this aspect of his career by recent research into the Albion Mill, particularly Professor A. W. Skempton's article on the subject in this journal recently. Wyatt's talents as an engineer and as a distinguished Neo-Classical architect are both expressed in the buildings he designed for Ramsgate harbour between 1794 and his death in February 1807.

Much has been written concerning those Victorian architects who, for one reason or another, have been considered seriously by scholars and critics. A great deal of the fabric of Victorian cities, however, was designed by men who have been largely dismissed by commentators. This paper considers the career of one of those placed by Goodhart-Rendel in the category of ‘Rogue Architects’. The story is in many ways a tragic one, and is perhaps not atypical of many other architects in the nineteenth century.