Seely & Paget was the architectural partnership of John Seely, 2nd Baron Mottistone (1899–1963) and Paul Edward Paget (1901–1985).
Their work included the construction of Eltham Palace in the Art Deco style, and the post-World War II restoration of a number of bomb-damaged buildings, such as houses in the Little Cloister (Westminster Abbey), the London Charterhouse and the church of St John Clerkenwell.
Early lives and meeting John Seely, son of John Seely, 1st Baron Mottistone, and Paul Paget, son of Bishop Henry Luke Paget, met at Cambridge University, where Seely studied architecture, though Paget did not.‘The Partners: Seely and Paget’, English Heritage. Web resource accessed 8 July 2019
Beginnings as architects
After graduating, Paget worked for a while as a bank clerk in the City of London while Seely remained at Cambridge. When Seely came down from Cambridge, he insisted that Paget join him in architectural practice, even though Paget had no architectural training. In the partnership, Paget concentrated on working with clients on their requirements, while Seely carried out the design work.Sussex Parish Churches.
The first work of the two together was to remodel Mottistone Manor, a historic property owned by Seely's father, and subsequently by the National Trust, in the village of Mottistone on the Isle of Wight. Seely's father insisted on their plans being approved by Sir Edwin Lutyens. In the garden they built "The Shack", a tiny cabin on wheels intended as their country retreat and drawing office.
Seely & Paget
In 1922, the two founded the architectural firm of Seely & Paget.
According to Paget, "it was just the marriage of two minds... we became virtually one person". They were inseparable in business and life, and referred to each other as "the partner". Friends and family also referred to them as "the partners".
From 1930 they lived and worked together at 41 Cloth Fair, London, where the firm remained until 1986. They had what Paget described as a "completely common life together", and installed twin bathtubs so they could bathe together.
Domestic works
1931 (alterations): 1–2 The Grove, Highgate, north London'Nos 1-6 The Grove (site of Dorchester House Garden)', in Survey of London: Volume 17, the Parish of St Pancras Part 1: the Village of Highgate, ed. Percy Lovell and William McB. Marcham (London, 1936), pp. 77-94. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol17/pt1/pp77-94 [accessed 30 March 2023]. 1931 (alterations): No. 3, The Grove, Highgate, north London 1936 (alterations): Eltham Palace 1951 (restored war damage): Eton College'file', Eton College Library, COLL B SF 102 01. Online resource, accessed 30 March 2023. 1955 (restored war damage): Lambeth Palace: Great Hall, Library and Stable Block"Lambeth Palace Conservation Area. Conservation Area Character Appraisal" Lambeth Council. March 2017. Online resource (PDF), accessed 20 March 2023. 1959 (restored war damage): London Charterhouse: Masters Court, Great Hall and Great Chamber 1959 (new): Westminster College, Oxford: new campus including Methodist chapel following the college's relocation from Horseferry Road, London SW1
Churches 1933 (new): St Faith Lee-on-the-Solent 1935 (new): St John's Church, Barrow-in-Furness 1939 (new): College chapel, College of the Venerable Bede, Durham 1939 (new): St John the Baptist (later St John & St James), Tottenham, north LondonSt John the Baptist, Great Cambridge Road, Tottenham, "London Churches in Photographs". Online resource, accessed 20 March 2023.
1952 (new): St Michael and St George, White City, London c.1952 (restored war damage): Fulham Palace, Tait Chapel'Palace Tait Chapel'. "National Churches Trust". Online resource, accessed 30 March 2023. 1955 (restored war damage): Lambeth Palace Chapel'Fulham Palace, London: the east end of the chapel prior to alterations'. RIBA Picture Library. Online resource, accessed 30 March 2023. 1956 (restored war damage): St Mary Islington 1958 (restored war damage): St John Clerkenwell 1959 (addition): Chapel for the Order of the British Empire, St Paul's Cathedral, London 1960 (new): St Andrew and St George Stevenage 1960 (restored): All Saints Church at Cottesbrooke 1962 (new): Chapel for St John's School, Leatherhead
End of the partnership
Seely died on 18 January 1963 and was buried in St Catherine's chapel garden at Westminster Abbey.
Paget succeeded Seely as Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral, in which role he supervised the cleaning of the cathedral and the reconstruction of the tower of St Augustine Watling Street. However, he completed little further architectural work, and in 1971, aged 70, he married children's writer Verily Anderson and retired with her and her children to Templewood in Norfolk (a house originally designed by the partners for Paget's uncle), where he lived until his death in 1985.
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