( fl c. 1322; d 1354). English carpenter. His first recorded work, in royal employment at the Tower of London in 1323–4, shows that he was already a well-known master. In 1326 he was working at the palatine chapel of St Stephen, Westminster, when he possibly designed the timber vault erected by him in 1345–8; in this year he was also employed at Caerphilly Castle, where he probably roofed the remodelled hall. By this date he possessed his own seal. In 1332 he was working at the London Guildhall and was named as ‘Keeper of Carpentry for the King’s Works’. He was made Chief Carpenter and Surveyor of all the King’s Works of Carpentry at the Tower and elsewhere south of the Trent and Humber in 1336. Hurley’s only surviving major work is the timber lantern of the octagonal crossing tower at Ely Cathedral. He probably worked there from 1322, when the Romanesque tower collapsed, and was still employed as a consultant up to the time of his death. The lantern’s structural system was partly based on recent roofing experiments in chapter houses and towers. The main timber frame supporting the bell chamber is concealed above a wooden vault which is thought not to be load-bearing, although this view has recently been challenged by Wade and Heyman. Stylistic features such as the ogee-lobed quatrefoils and the linking of windows and panelling by mullions show Hurley’s awareness of the innovations made by masons working at the chapel of St Stephen. The choir-stalls at Ely were probably also designed by Hurley; they embody ideas that may have been further explored in his later stalls (destr.) for Windsor Castle and for the chapel of St Stephen.

• Hurley, William
  • Ely Cathedral, §1(ii)(iv): Architecture: Octagon, choir and Lady Chapel
  • Ely Cathedral, §2: Sculpture
  • England, §IV, 1: Sculpture, before c 1530
  • Gothic, §II, 2(ii): Architecture, late 13th century–the 16th: British Isles