Architectural partnership formed by Charles Holloway James (1893–1953) and Stephen Rowland Pierce (1896–1966). James worked as an assistant in the offices of Sir Edwin Lutyens, 1911–14. In 1919, following war service (in which he lost a leg), he commenced his architectural practice, firstly in partnership as Thomson, Hennell & James and then from 1920 as Hennel & James. Following Hennell’s death in 1929, James entered into partnership with Stuart Frank Bywaters, and on Pierce’s arrival, the practice became James & Bywaters and Rowland Pierce. It is not known with whom Pierce trained as an architect but in 1921 he was a Rome Scholar in Architecture and in 1929 collaborated with the sculptor Alfred Hardiman on his Monument to Earl Haig in Whitehall (unveiled 10 November 1937). James and Pierce won the competition for Norwich City Hall in 1931, construction of which was delayed until 1937 (completed 1938). With Bywaters, the partnership also designed Slough Town Hall (1934–36) and Hertfordshire County Council buildings (competition of 1935, built 1937–39). Together with the City Engineer, H.C. Rowley, James and Pierce also prepared the City of Norwich Plan of 1945. The partnership was dissolved in 1947. In 1950, Pierce was responsible for the restoration of the Assembly House in Norwich and in 1954 provided, for the courtyard in front, a small fountain which used as its centrepiece a bronze sculpture of a nude child holding flowers, made by James Woodford, c.1936.
Bibliography: ARH net: Biographical Dictionary of British and Irish Architects 1800–1950: (i) James, Charles Holloway 1893 – 1953; (ii) Pierce, Stephen Rowland 1896 – 1966; R. Cocke, Public Sculpture of Norfolk and Suffolk, Liverpool, 2013, pp. xv, 21–25, 61; N. Pevsner and B. Wilson, Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, New Haven and London, 2002, pp. 163, 263–64, 269, 270, 313; RIBA Library: biographical files.
Richard Cocke, 2013; revised, Terry Cavanagh, April 2025