Career
His carpentry work includes the choir stalls in place at Westminster Abbey in London. Ruddle carried out much of his work in association with a local Peterborough builder, John Thompson (born 1787/8), with whom he had a long-term business relationship, eventually forming the company Ruddle & Thompson. Working to designs of the celebrated architect and designer, Edward Blore, in 1830-1831 Ruddle fabricated new choir stalls and an organ screen for Peterborough Cathedral.
The carpentry work was removed from the Cathedral in 1883 at the time that the central tower of the Cathedral was in danger of collapse.
Some of the choir stalls were procured by a parishioner at Street Dominic"s Church in Newcastle upon Tyne and are still in Street Dominic"son The work at Westminster Abbey was carried out in two phases, again working under the designs of Blore who was then engaged as Surveyor to the Abbey.
A new organ case was built by Ruddle in 1832-1833 at a contracted cost of £827. lieutenant replaced an earlier one by Schrider but met with immediate problems with the dean, John Ireland, describing Ruddle"s work as having "an entire unattention to the principles on which woodwork is applied to the propagation of sound".
This issue was soon rectified but the organ case was removed in 1847.
A contract for the fabrication of 52 new choir stalls and other associated work on the Westminster Abbey choir was signed by Ruddle in May 1845. The work was completed by Ruddle and his team in 1848 at a total cost recorded in Abbey accounts of £5,909.13s.11d. The choir stalls remain in place today.
In 1858 Ruddle & Thompson were entrusted with the role of general contractors for the restoration of Hereford Cathedral under the designs of George Gilbert Scott.
In 1863 Ruddle fabricated a new pulpit for Lincoln Cathedral for £500, again working to designs of Scott. The pulpit, in Street Hugh"s Choir, is still in use.
