Cyril Farey
Cyril Arthur Farey FRIBA (28 April 1888 – 7 December 1954) was a British architect and architectural illustrator, known most widely for his detailed pencil and watercolour perspective depictions of architectural and engineering landmarks in the first half of the 20th century.
Also recorded as Cyril Arthur Farey · Cyril A. Farey
Cyril Farey

Nigel Cox · From geograph.org.uk · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Born
- 28 April 1888
- Birthplace
- London, England
- Died
- 7 December 1954
- Education
- Tonbridge School ('05) Architectural Association Royal Academy of Arts
- Nationality
- United Kingdom.
- Occupation
- artist, architect, illustrator, painter and draftsperson.
- Fields
- visual arts and architecture.
- Honours
- Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Cyril Arthur Farey FRIBA (28 April 1888 – 7 December 1954) was a British architect and architectural illustrator, known most widely for his detailed pencil and watercolour perspective depictions of architectural and engineering landmarks in the first half of the 20th century.
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Note VALÉORINE
Cyril Farey (1888–1954) was an architect, artist and draftsperson, among other activities, of British nationality.
The architect was educated at Tonbridge School. Activity centred on architecture and visual arts.
Languages used include English. Honours include Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q25138493 · wikipedia · Cyril Farey
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 28 April 1888 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 7 December 1954 • Place of death — London, England • Education — Tonbridge School ('05) Architectural Association Royal Academy of Arts
Early life and education
Early life and education
Born in London in 1888, he was educated at Tonbridge School and served his articles in the offices of architect Horace Field between 1911 and 1913, attending the Architectural Association and the Royal Academy School of Architecture. Winner of the RA Schools Bronze Medal in 1911, Farey subsequently won the Tite Prize in 1913, the Soane Medallion in 1914, and in 1921 both the Edward Stott Travelling Studentship prize and the Royal Academy Gold Medal. He was nominated as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1918 and became a Fellow in 1941. During the First World War he served in the Royal Army Service Corps, attaining the rank of captain. Farey also worked for a period in the offices of Sir Ernest Newton RA, before setting up his own architectural practice.
Career
Career
He became perhaps the most renowned British architectural draughtsman of the twentieth century, providing commissioned illustrations for numerous leading architects including Edwin Lutyens and Frank Lloyd Wright and was considered along with William Walcot to be one of the preeminent architectural draftsmen of the period. Farey travelled extensively in Europe and was commissioned to provide technical illustrations for both Frank Lloyd Wright's 1923 Tokyo Imperial Hotel and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Other illustrations he is known for include: • Lutyens' unrealized design for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. • Depictions of St Paul's Cathedral and the City of London during World War II, where he volunteered as a member of the Fire-Guard Watch protecting the cathedral from incendiary bombs. He partnered with Graham Dawbarn and in 1924 they provided the winning design for classroom and administrative structures of Raffles College in Singapore. From 1947 he partnered with son Michael Farey and John J Adams.
Selected architectural work
Selected architectural work
* • Illustration — St Mark's Church, Teddington 2 Wildwood Rise, Hampstead Garden Suburb, (Won second prize in a Country Life competition in 1913) • Bukit Timah Campus, National University of Singapore (Former Raffles College buildings - opened in 1928) • St George's Church Hall (1929), (Grade II Listed, 2006), Headstone, Harrow. • St Mark's Church, Teddington (1939) • St Peter's Church (1941), Grange Park, Enfield • All Hallows' Church (1941), North Greenford, Ealing
Designs by Farey
Designs by Farey
• Illustration — Design for a cathedral • Illustration — Design for a house in Newbury • Illustration — Fireplace in Farey's own home
Designs by others
Designs by others
• Illustration — Tyne Bridge • Illustration — Martin's Bank, Exeter
Identity
Identity
Cyril Farey is recorded with the occupation architectural illustrator. Recorded with the occupation visual artist. Recorded as artist, architect, illustrator, painter and draftsperson.

Royal Masonic Hospital,
https: Gallery: https: Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-02)

Offered for sale by Abbott and Holder in April 2020 when it was described as "‘Tyne Bridge’. Ink, watercolour and gouache. Signed and dated, 1928. Backing labelled: ‘Tyne Bridge / Steel Arch – Span 531 Feet / 1926-1928 / Opened by King George V – October 10th 1928 / during the Mayorality of / Alderman Stephen Easten O.B.E. J.P. – Lord Mayor of Newcastle Upon Tyne / Alderman William Edwin Wardill J
Creator:Cyril Farey
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1888
Cyril Farey born.
1954
Cyril Farey died on 7 December 1954.
Catalogued output
Works and catalogued output
Royal Masonic Hospital, London: aerial perspective of the whole scheme. Process print after C.A.
Publications
• "Architectural Drawing, Perspective, and Rendering" Published with A. Trystan Edwards in 1931
Context
Primary material
Context
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, London: a perspective of the nurses' home.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Cyril Farey”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q25138493: Cyril Farey
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Bold, John. English Architecture Public and Private. The Hambledon Press. 312. 1993. 1-85285-095-7.
- 2.The Times Obituary: 8 December 1954
- 3.Journal Of The Royal Institute Of British Architects Third Series Vol 29 No 9
- 4.Selley, Cela. 1941: St Peter's Church, Grange Park. 100 Buildings 100 Years. Twentieth Century Society. 2014.
- 5.Steil, Lucien. The Architectural Capriccio. Ashgate Publishing Limited. 358. 2014. 978-1409431916.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Illustration
5,224 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Cyndy SzekeresIllustrator
- Cynthia HarnettIllustrator
- Cynthia MartinIllustrator
- Cyril BoudaIllustrator
- Cyril KutlíkIllustrator
- Cyro Del NeroIllustrator
- D. J. ConwayIllustrator
- D. L. GhilchikIllustrator
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