John Revell's family were Londoners and carpenters. He is first recorded working on the house built for
Henry VIII at
Deptford. He became a warden of the
Carpenter's Company in 1553. He worked in Scotland in the 1540s strengthening forts and castles held by the English during the war known as the
Rough Wooing, including
Roxburgh Castle where he built a brewhouse. He was known as the Master Carpenter in the North Parts. "Revell the Master Carpenter" was sent to view
Broughty Castle,
Inchcolm, Roxburgh,
Hume Castle and the fort at
Eyemouth. Humphrey Revell, presumably a relative, was Master Carpenter of
Berwick-upon-Tweed from 1550. Revell contributed to the repair of bridges or landing stages on the
Thames at Blackfriars and the Temple. He was employed at the building of
Somerset House for
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and its refurbishment for
Princess Elizabeth in 1553. As surveyor of the Queen's works in 1562, Revell managed preparations at
Nottingham Castle for the planned
interview between Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. The event was cancelled. Around the same time, timber was sent to him from the
Forest of Rockingham for repairs at
Collyweston Palace. John Revell died on 12 December 1563. His widow was a sister of the London mercer Hugh Brynckelowe and a relation of the author
Henry Brinklow. ==References==