William Radford Bryden

William Radford Bryden (1851 – 16 February 1941) was an English architect and surveyor who designed various prominent Victorian buildings in Buxton, Derbyshire.

Life Bryden was born in Eccles, Lancashire in 1851. His parents were William Anderson and Maria Bryden.

He attended Cheltenham College (in Newick House) from 1865 to 1868.

Bryden was an articled architect with Edward Middleton Barry RA and trained under Robert William Edis RSA and William Henry Crossland. He became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1876. In 1877 he established the architect and surveyor practice of "Bedborough and Bryden" at Bideford and Westward Ho in Devon.

He married Emily Somes Crichton in 1878. They had children Archibald Leslie Bryden and Jessie Margaret Bryden. Emily died aged 27 in 1882. William Bryden married Alice Ryde Sawer in 1884 and their children Arthur Thomas Bryden, Alice Dorothea Bryden and Florence Marion Bryden were born in Buxton.

W. R. Bryden came to Buxton from Bideford in 1883. He bought Robert Rippon Duke's architect's business on George Street in 1883, when R. R. Duke retired. He became renowned for his eclectic style with shaped gables, towers, pinnacles, crenellations and mixed window styles. Bryden trained George Edward Garlick (c. 1863 – c. 1932) and William Holland (b. 1861) who both set up their own successful architect practices on Terrace Road in Buxton. Charles Swain of Manchester bought Bryden's architect business on George Street in 1921. Bryden designed his own homes Lakenham on Burlington Road in 1898 and Heathfield on Park Road in 1905.

Bryden designed the Union Club (now the Old Clubhouse pub) on Water Street in 1886 as a gentleman's club for guests to the spa town. It is a Grade II listed building. In 1887 he designed a ballroom for the Buxton Hydropathic hotel on Hartington Road (demolished in 1973).

Bryden and his student George Edwin Garlick designed Grinlow Tower (now called Solomon's Temple) in 1894 on Grin Low hill. It is a Grade II listed building.

In 1890 Bryden designed a manse for the Unitarian Chapel on Hartington Road. In 1895 Bryden designed a new parsonage on Lismore Road. In 1895 Bryden also designed the restored nave of Saint Michael's Church at Beguildy in Wales. The Catholic Apostolic Church (also known as The Gospel Hall) on the corner of Hardwick Square South and Darwin Avenue was designed by Bryden in 1896. In 1901 he was the architect for the rebuilding of the Grade II listed St Paul's Church in Flash, Staffordshire (5 miles south of Buxton). Bryden also designed Alison Park Hotel on Temple Road in 1904.

Bryden also designed many residential buildings around Buxton (mostly for wealthy clients) including: Marlborough Mansions on Marlborough Road (in 1891); 12 Park Road; The Hawthorns on Burlington Road (in 1891, now a Salvation Army care home); Lakenham, Inglethorpe, Glenbrook, Elmwood and Elmbank villas on Burlington Road (in 1898); Branksome's Coachman's Lodge on Gadley Lane (in 1902); Milnthorpe Homes almshouses for the elderly on Macclesfield Road (in 1905); Lerryn, Heatherton and Brooklands villas on Temple Road (between 1908 and 1910); Parkfield villa on Carlisle Road (in 1910, now demolished); Ravensworth on Carlisle Road (in 1912).