SHERWOOD, Edmund James (1849-1921), of London, England held the position of Chief Architect for the Salvation Army in England from 1881 until his departure for South Africa in early 1890. Working directly under the supervision of General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, Sherwood was singularly responsible for developing the military styling of the Army Barracks buildings throughout England, and his influence reached as far as Canada where his signature building was the national headquarters of the Army on Albert Street in Toronto (1885-86). Working with local associate architect Almond E. Paull, this landmark was completed in April 1886, but later demolished and replaced by a new modernist design for the Army Hostel building prepared by John B. Parkin in 1956. .
In response the rapid growth of the Army movement, and the unprecedented demand for indoor assembly space, William Booth created the Architect's Office for the Army at their London headquarters in 1880 and appointed Sherwood to head up the new department. He was described as “the official architect of the Salvation Army”, controlling the style and appearance of Army barracks buildings in England and in Canada. In Ontario and the Maritimes, he would often work with a local Canadian associate architect in towns such as Belleville, Owen Sound and Kingston. A view of his original concept for the barracks in Kingston (1886) appears in Jennifer McKendry, Bricks in 19th C. Architecture of the Kingston Area, 2017, 43-44, and was intended to replace an earlier barracks built in 1883 but destroyed in a fire in August 1886. The new building was completed in association with William F. Sexton, a local Toronto contractor and architect, but it differs from the original design by Sherwood sent out from London.
The appearance of these barracks buildings by Sherwood was instantly recognizable, and featured symmetrically composed red brick facades topped with battlements and crenellations which reinforced the fortress-like image of each hall. In England, the outstanding examples of Sherwood's designs include the Barracks at York (1882-83; still standing), and the Barracks at Grimsby (1888; still standing). Sherwood was born at Welton, Yorkshire on 18 July 1849 but no information has been found on his early education or training. By 1872 he had established his own office as an architect in Manchester; and the following year he was in partnership with Richard Thomas Jr.; together they designed the large complex of nine warehouses called The Victoria Buildings (1873; still standing) and cited by Nikolaus Pevsner and others in The Buildings of England – Lancashire: Manchester & The South East, 2010, 345. In 1876 he had formed a new partnership in Manchester with Mr. Paverley (Guardian [Manchester], 22 July 1876, 3). When Sherwood was appointed as chief architect for the Army in 1881, he moved to London and worked from the Salvation Army headquarters in Queen Victoria Street for the next nine years.
For unexplained reasons, Sherwood left England in early January 1890 and moved to Cape Town, South Africa and continued to work as an architect there from an office in the Grand National Building on Darling Street (Architects & Surveyors Directory & Referendum [London], 1907, p. 189). He later died in Pretoria, S.A. on 14 September 1921 (South Africa, Transvaal Estates Death Index, 1921).
(works in Canada)
(with Almond E. Paull & Son) TORONTO ONT., Salvation Army Headquarters & Temple, Albert Street at James Street, 1885-86; demol. c. 1955 (Globe [Toronto], 4 March 1885, 2, t.c.; 19 Feb. 1886, 8, illus. & descrip.; Toronto World, 23 April 1886, 1, descrip.; Builder [London], Vol. 50, 29 May 1886, 797, descrip.)
(with William F. Sexton) KINGSTON, ONT., Salvation Army Barracks, Queen Street at Bagot Street, 1886, built to replace an earlier Barracks which burned in August 1886 (J. McKendry, Bricks in 19th C. Architecture of the Kingston Area, 2017, 43-44, illus. & descrip.)
(works in England)
MANCHESTER, ENGL., The Victoria Buildings, Dantzic Street, Thornley Brow, and Well Street, 1873 (Building News [London], xxv, 4 July 1873, 28)
YORK, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, Gillygate Street, 1882-83 (Yorkshire Herald, 27 March 1883, 3, descrip.; Historic England, heritage designation statement 3 May 1990, Grade II Listed building)
CASTLEFORD, YORKSHIRE, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, 1883 (Yorkshire Herald, 31 March 1883, 2, t.c.)
SHEFFIELD, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, Kirkbridge Road at Eadon Road, 1883 (Sheffield Independent, 21 April 1883, 8, t.c.; 30 May 1883, 3, descrip.)
HENDON, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, Brent Street, 1884; burned 1935
OLDHAM, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, Union Street, 1886; demol. 1969 (Builder [London], vol. 50, 16 Jan. 1886, 148)
RAMSGATE, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, 1887 (Builder [London], liii, 17 Sept. 1887, 415)
GRIMSBY, LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGL., Salvation Army Barracks, 1888 (The Chapels Society – Notes for A Visit to Cleethorpes & Grimsby, 12 Sept. 2015 [online])
(works in South Africa)
PORT ELIZABETH, St. John's Methodist Church, Havelock Street, 1894