William Ramsey

St Ethelbert's Gate, NorwichWilliam de Ramsey (fl. 1323 – 1349) was an English Gothic master mason and architect who worked on and probably designed the two earliest buildings of the Perpendicular style of Gothic architecture.

Life The son of John de Ramsey, Master of Works at Norwich Cathedral and probable builder at Ely Cathedral (1324–30), William Ramsey began his career in the 1320s, working with his father on the cloisters at Norwich and probably on the chapel above the St Ethelbert's Gate to the cathedral close. In 1323 he was working on St Stephen's Chapel (since destroyed) at the old Palace of Westminster. He was also a consultant ('Visiting Master') at Norwich's Cathedral between 1326 and 1331. The great hall and other parts of Penshurst Place (1341–48) were probably his work. Ramsey died of plague in 1349, during the Black Death. William Ramsey's daughter, Agnes Ramsey, carried on his workshop after his death.

Works

Chapter House of St. Paul's Cathedral, City of London, Greater London St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, Greater London Penshurst Place, Penshurst, Kent St Margaret's Church, Cley next the Sea, Norfolk St Ethelbert's Gate, Norwich, Norfolk