John began his career as assistant to the practice’s founding partner Donovan Purcell, conserving Ely Cathedral and many National Trust properties. Learning from the great pioneer of the post-war conservation movement equipped him with skills that would enable him to care for some of the country’s finest historic buildings and their settings.
As the longest serving member of the practice, John has set up two regional offices before focusing in London. Although his experience covers a wide range of buildings including commercial offices, John has developed a strong bias towards the conservation and repair of historic structures and ecclesiastical buildings in particular, for which he has a particular passion.
His nationally-acknowledged expertise in this field led to his appointment as Surveyor of the Fabric at Canterbury Cathedral (a post he has held since 1990) and Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey since 1999. Despite his ongoing involvement with conserving these World Heritage Sites, John is equally proud of the success of his efforts to save small redundant country churches. He also heads a team responsible for the repair and conservation of many historic buildings in London belonging to the Crown Estate.
He is in his element solving the three dimensional puzzles of integrating complex mechanical services into historic properties with the minimum of visual interference. John believes in sharing his conservation knowledge and expertise widely and has been an active committee member for major national and regional bodies including the National Trust, of which he is Council member, and English Heritage’s Places of Worship Committee.
John, who has an immense body of experience gathered over 35 years, accepts there is always more to learn about the conservation and care of historic buildings and is committed to passing on his skills to others working in the field, both within the practice and in the profession as a whole and through the Livery Movement. John lectures on the subject of Conservation in England and the US mainly to academia.
‘I take pride in the fact that Purcell Miller Tritton employs excellent people who really enjoy their work and are involved with some of the country’s greatest buildings’.