Keene, Henry

Keene, Henry (1726–76). English architect. He was Surveyor to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster from 1746 and Surveyor to the Fabric of Westminster Abbey from 1752. He may have refined Jacobsen's designs for the west front of Trinity College, Dublin. One of the first exponents of C18 Gothic Revival, as early as 1749 Keene assisted Sanderson Miller to prepare drawings for Hagley, Worcs., and in c.1750 he fitted out the chapel at Hartlebury Castle, Worcs., in the Gothick style. He designed the octagonal Hartwell Church, Bucks. (1753–5), and Sir Roger Newdigate, Bt. (1719–1806), employed him on the remodelling of Arbury Hall, Warwicks., from 1761, where some of the details were copied from Westminster Abbey. He was also responsible for the handsome Classical Guildhall, High Wycombe, Bucks. (1757), and the Provost's Lodgings, Worcester College, Oxford (1773–6).

Bibliography

Colvin (1995);
J. Curl (2002a)
M. McCarthy (1987);
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004)