Alexander David McLees (9 November 1945- 14 June 2020).[1][2] was a British architectural historian. From 1998 to 2001, he was a director in the Executive Committee of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (SAHGB).[1]
Early life and education edit
Alexander David McLees was born in St Andrews Fife, Scotland. He was the son of Mary Adamson Syrmington, a school teacher, and Alexander Gray McLees, the deputy rector in Madras College in St Andrews. This is where McLees and his older sister Margaret completed their studies.[3] During his school years, McLees played on the college rugby team from 1962 to 1964,[4] and in 1964 he won the college's Coronation Medal for History.[5]
In 1969 he was awarded a Master of Arts degree by the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, where he wrote his MA dissertation on parish church architecture in Gloucestershire.[6]
Work and research edit
After his MA, McLees kept on researching British architecture. In 1972, McLees won the Reginald Taylor and Lord Fletcher essay prize from the British Archaeological Association[7] and six years later, in 1978, he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.[8]
McLees’ most circulated work is perhaps the Cadw guide to Castell Coch, written in 1988.[9] The guide proved popular and has had two further editions: one published in 2005,[10] and the other in 2018.[11] In his research of the archives, he discovered previously unseen photographies of the castle, showing that Castell Coch had commercial vineyards before the 1930s- making it a rare case in Britain.[12]
After this first collaboration with Cadw, McLees became an Inspector of Historical Buildings for the Welsh agency.[13] McLees worked for Cadw again in 2013 in a campaign to preserve traditional Welsh terraced houses. He wrote a booklet about the historical value of such houses, with guidance on their care and preservation.[14] McLees died in June 2020.
Bibliography edit
- McLees, A. D. (1969). Parish architecture in Gloucestershire (MA). London: Courtauld Institute of Art.
- McLees, D. (1972) 'Henry Yevele: disposer of the King's Works of masonry' (JBAA, 3rd ser., XXXVI (1973), 52-72).
- McLees, D. (1988). Castell Coch. Cadw.
- Jeremy Knight, John B. Hilling, Jeremy Knight, Jeremy Knight, Jack Spurgeon, Keith Kissack, John R. Kenyon & David McLees (1993) Castles, Archaeological Journal, 150:sup1, 26-43, DOI: 10.1080/00665983.1993.11785942.
References edit
- ^ a b "Alexander David MCLEES - Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "The obituary notice of David McLees". funeral-notices.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "Pupil Records 1946 to 1967". www.madrascollegearchive.org.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "Rugby 1947 to 1967". www.madrascollegearchive.org.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ "Madras Trophies". www.madrascollegearchive.org.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2021.[additional citation(s) needed]
- ^ McLees, A. D. (1969). Parish architecture in Gloucestershire (MA). London: Courtauld Institute of Art. – The thesis is on shelf at the Courtauld under the class mark A969.GLO MCL
- ^ none (1 January 2000). "The British Archaeological Association Annual Report and Accounts". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 153 (1): 182–198. doi:10.1179/jba.2000.153.1.182. ISSN 0068-1288. S2CID 218679795.
- ^ "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Volume 108". www.google.com. 1977. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ McLees, David (1988). Castell Coch. Cadw. ISBN 1857600835.
- ^ McLees, David (2005). Castell Coch. Cadw. ISBN 1857602102.
- ^ McLees, David (2018). Castell Coch. Cadw.
- ^ "Salon 110". Society of Antiquaries of London. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ WalesOnline (22 February 2005). "Light shed on vineyard steeped in history". WalesOnline. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ WalesOnline (26 January 2006). "'Please look after your terrace ... you just can't know how special it is'". WalesOnline. Retrieved 1 March 2021.