Background
Riley was born in Paddington, London, and attended Pembroke College, Oxford where obtained his Bachelor 1881 and Master of Arts 1883.
Riley was born in Paddington, London, and attended Pembroke College, Oxford where obtained his Bachelor 1881 and Master of Arts 1883.
His best known hymn is Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones. He also created an English adaption of the eucharistic hymn O Esca Viatorum. In later life he moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands, where he purchased Trinity Manor in 1909, thereby acquiring the feudal title of Seigneur de Louisiana Trinité.
Finding the manor house in a ruined condition, he undertook an elaborate restoration (or "imaginative reconstruction", which has been criticised as turning the building into a French style château).
The reconstruction was carried out 1910-1913 by C. Messervy to designs by Sir Reginald Blomfield. Athelstan Riley bought the historic property L"Ancienneté in Saint Brélade, and removed architectural features of interest to incorporate into Trinity Manor, carefully recording the provenance of items and nature of alterations made in his project
He remained in Jersey through the German occupation, and died shortly after its liberation.
