Bernat Klein Obituary of Peter Womersley

Reproduced from RIAS News, Vol 4, No 11, December 1993

Peter Womersley settled in the Borders in 1955. He was and remained single. From then on and up to the late ‘70s he spent many Sunday evenings with us. There were informal, crew-neck and slacks, family occasions with our children at the dinner table, involved and full of curiosity; relaxed, easy evenings exchanging local gossip, reviewing recent events and experiences, watching TV (Huw Weldon’s Omnibus a favourite). His aperitif was a dry Martini (never spirits); his favourite main dish, steak and kidney pudding; his favourite sweet, pancakes layered with sweetened cottage cheese, topped with strawberry jam blended with egg-white and baked. He enjoyed any reasonable wine. Peter became our close friend; for or children he became (but was not called) “uncle”.

He was shy and quietly spoken yet unostentatiously and firmly self-confident, particularly in relation to his work. Surprisingly to me he was an admirer of Palladio and had a profound knowledge of classical architecture. His professional commitment to the modern idiom was total and uncompromising. Not unexpectedly he knew a great deal about painting and sculpture but his taste in and his knowledge of literature and music was a bonus to his friends. He listened to classical music while he worked and preferred to work alone, in his house, while his assistants worked in the adjoining studio.

He had a highly developed sense of individuality and apart from enjoying volley ball on a summer evening, by necessity a group activity, he was never in the remotest sense a member of a team. He was determined to practice on his own and turned down offers of partnerships.

In contrast to the assertive aggressiveness of some architects which makes them difficult to work with, seeing a building through with Peter was, in my experience, pleasant and exciting.

His sense of proportion was outstanding so that it was thrilling just to look at the various components, on their own, as they took shape on the site; and the completed whole fulfilled all expectations. Each of the three commissions which he completed for us has stood the test of time and continues to give constant, intense pleasure. Like some other creative workers Peter found, by the late ‘70s, that this country had little use for his talents; there were no commissions in hand or in view. He moved to work in Hong Kong and then retired in 1986.

We expected him in Scotland in September and his sudden death was, in spite of his serious illness, a sad shock to his many friends here.

Bernat Klein, High Sunderland, Galashiels. 28 September, 1993