Talk:Frank Matcham

Frank Matcham is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on May 17, 2020.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
June 12, 2019	Peer review	Reviewed
July 19, 2019	Featured article candidate	Promoted

A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on November 22, 2024.

Current status: Featured article

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Unclear bits

1. In the final para of the lead, "His biographer Brian Walker notes from the architect's personal archives that ..." means what, exactly? What is the connection between the architect's personal archives and Mr. Walker's judgement?

2. Second sentence: "He was best known for ...". Is he no longer best known for this?

3. End of lead para 2: "the Revill family who owned many of the theatres throughout the UK at that time." Not sure what "of the" means. Are we saying that they owned the majority of the UK's theatres? If so, we should say so. If not, can we drop those two words?

4. Lead P3 - Worth noting that "in the provinces" will probably grate on a great many people in the provinces, who hate that phrase. -> "around the country"?

5. Lead P3 - Can we lose the superfluous "when compared" part of "describes Matcham's theatre interiors to be superior when compared to the building's external designs" -> "describes Matcham's theatre interiors to be superior to the building's external designs"

6. Lead P3 - discontinue -> avoid, remove "otherwise: "Matcham's use of cantilevers for the galleries allowed him to discontinue the use of columns, which would otherwise obstruct the audience's view" -> "Matcham's use of cantilevers for the galleries allowed him to avoid the use of columns, which would obstruct the audience's view"

--Tagishsimon (talk) 12:06, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong Gaiety Theatre picture

The picture of the Gaiety Theatre shows it located on the corner of Strand (right) and Aldwych (left) with St Mary le Strand in the background. This is the replacement theatre built after Phipps' was demolished in 1903. The Gaiety Theatre designed by Phipps, occupied a site on the Corner of Essex Street and Catherine Street and was on the left of the view in the postcard. The map below from 1900 shows the theatre's location before Aldwych and Kingsway were constructed.

Larger scale OS maps are here (1893-95) and here (1914) showing the new theatre as the first building constructed on the newly clear semi-circle of land.--DavidCane (talk) 13:26, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks DavidCane. Are there any images we can use out there? I have to say, the image is used more for the plot in which the theatre stands rather than the building itself. What if that were made clear in the caption? Cassianto^Talk 19:27, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Cassianto, how about this one. It says it can be reused without permission.--DavidCane (talk) 19:41, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Looks great! I see no reason not to use it, although does it illustrate the point about the awkward plot? Cassianto^Talk 20:33, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

If you want to specifically illustrate that, I suggest that a section of the 1895 OS map is uploaded, perhaps with the outline highlighted in red. They are out of copyright after 50 years.--DavidCane (talk) 20:41, 17 May 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Citation 16: "Tenders", The Builder, 1 March 1873, p. 176.

This section of The Builder contains information about tenders already awarded, and records that the building contractor James Matcham of Plymouth had been awarded the construction contract, together with the amount of his tender <Dartmouth and South Hams Chronicle 28 February 1873, p2.>. Tenders had been invited the previous January <Western Morning News 25 January 1873 p1>, with no mention of Frank Matcham. It would have been highly unusual for a professional architect to cite one of his subordinates in such a context.Lapford (talk) 17:47, 9 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]