Edward Blore

1787-1879

Edward Blore was a Scottish architect, well known for his involvement in the Scottish Baronial style.

Edward Blore was born in 1787 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His career began when his father, Thomas Blore, employed him to illustrate for his book “History of Rutland”. This lead to further commissions in regards to drawing of buildings, specifically in “The Cathedral Antiquities” and “The Architectural Antiquities” by John Britton. It is believed that the close observation of the Gothic styles of these buildings could have had a very large influence in his future use of the Scottish Baronial style of architecture.

Arguably, the best known work of Edward Blore is the Buckingham Palace. While he did not create the original design, he did complete it after John Nash (its original designer) was dismissed. Edward Blore contributed especially to the side of the building facing The Mall. But his work is hard to see now, as the building was resurfaced and reworked in 1913. Edward Blore also worked on the Salisbury Tower at Windsor Castle.

Edward Blore was said to be a close personal friend of Sir Walter Scott, with whom he shared an interest in architectural styles. This relationship and the connections of Sir Walter Scott led eventually to Edward Blore being commissioned to work on the Vorontsov's Palace in Alupka, in what is now Ukraine. This led to an amalgamation of Middle Eastern and Scottish Baronial styles. Further, as a respected and established architect, Edward Blore was commissioned to design a number of British interests around the world, including the Government House, in Sydney