William Wilson

Who was William Wilson?

Sir William Wilson was an English architect, builder and sculptor.

Born in 1641 in Leicester, he was the son of a baker. In his early life, it is believed that he served an apprenticeship with a statuary mason. It is also claimed that he studied under Sir Christopher Wren at Oxford University where he learned to become an architect. He moved to work in Sutton Coldfield in the historic county of Warwickshire after studying.

His first work was Peddimore Hall in Sutton Coldfield. William Wood commissioned Wilson to design the house which was completed in 1659. Wilson was then appointed to carve a statue of King Charles II for the west front of Lichfield Cathedral in 1669. In the following year, he carved an entrance porch for Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire and in 1671, he carved family monuments for the Wilbraham family at Weston Church in Staffordshire. In 1689, Wilson worked at Nottingham Castle to carve an equestrian statue of William, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

In 1677, Jane Pudsey commissioned him to create a monument to her dead husband. When completed, it was placed in Sutton Coldfield Church. Whilst carving the monument, Wilson developed a relationship and eventually fell in love with Jane Pudsey, who had been left widowed following the death of her husband, Henry Pudsey. She was forced to leave Langley Hall as she no longer possessed the house. During the relationship with Jane Pudsey, Wilson designed and constructed Moat House on the Lichfield Road in Sutton Coldfield. Here the couple lived after its completion in 1680. As a result of her influence in the courts, she secured a knighthood for him in 1681, and shortly after, married him. The gatehouse at 14 Lichfield Road, next to Moat House, has been attributed to William Wilson and was built around 1680.