Henry Bell
Illustration — The Custom House in King's Lynn, one of Bell's most famous designs Henry Bell (1647–1711) was an English architect, a contemporary of Christopher Wren. Bell was born in King's Lynn, Norfolk and baptised in St Margaret's Church. He was the son of a wealthy merchant family and his father was twice mayor.
Henry Bell
Alienturnedhuman at English Wikipedia · Public domain
- Born
- 1647
- Died
- 1711
- Nationality
- Kingdom of England
- Occupation
- architect
- Education
- Gonville and Caius College
- Languages
- English
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Biography
He was admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in 1661. He designed many buildings in West Norfolk including the Custom House in King's Lynn and All Saints Church in North Runcton. • Illustration — All Saints' Parish church, North Runcton He served twice as Mayor of King's Lynn, he was well educated and travelled through Europe. In 1676 he met Robert Hooke, who shared with him his experiences of rebuilding London following the Great Fire. This knowledge had a bearing on his future work, as the design of North Runcton Church shows similarities with those employed by Wren, for example St Mary-at-Hill. He was responsible for the rebuilding of All Saints' Church and possibly the Sessions House, Northampton after a fire. During 1690 and 1695 the Kimbolton Castle courtyard was remodelled and attributed on stylistic grounds to Henry Bell who refronted the Tudor courtyard, introduced galleries and the main staircase. He died in 1711.
Henry Bell studied at Gonville and Caius College. The recorded working language is English.
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Henry Bell (architect), revision 1349303799 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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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."Famous people connected with North Runcton", North Runcton Website
- 2.Henry Bell.
- 3."Famous people connected with North Runcton", North Runcton Website
- 4."Famous people connected with North Runcton", North Runcton Website
- 5."Famous people connected with North Runcton", North Runcton Website
- 6.Philip Burkett & Nora Butler, Kimbolton Castle, Kimbolton School, Kimbolton 2017, p. 12
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- "Henry Bell of King's Lynn", Architectural History, Vol. 4, (1961), pp. 41–62.
- Geoffrey Webb, "Henry Bell of King's Lynn", The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Vol. 47, No. 268 (Jul., 1925), pp. 24–33
- James Stevens Curl, A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape, 2000 (entry for "Bell, Henry").
- David Higgins, The ingenious Mr Henry Bell: His Life His Work His Legacy His King's Lynn, Phoenix Publications, King's Lynn, 2005,
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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 18 August 2026.
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