Explore: Charles Wickes

(1828 - )

Charles Wickes was born in Charlton, Kent; the son of a merchant. The family moved to Cambridgeshire and then to Leicester, where Wickes trained as an architect before entering into partnership with William Flint. They were responsible for work to King’s Norton Church (1850) and the Corn Exchange (1850) in Leicester, before the partnership was dissolved in 1853. Wickes drew ‘Illustrations of the Spires and Towers of the Medieval Churches’ (published 1854-55) and wrote ‘Memorials of English Medieval Churches’ (1857) and ‘Villa Architecture’ (1859-62). However, by 1863 he was wanted for having fraudulently withdrawn some £1,800 using a forged cheque book. He served 15 years at Millbank Prison, Pimlico, and Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight.