John Douglas (English architect)
John Douglas | |
---|---|
Born | Sandiway, Cheshire, England | 11 April 1830
Died | 23 May 1911 Walmoor Hill, Dee Banks, Chester, England | (aged 81)
Resting place | Overleigh old cemetery, Chester |
Education | Articled to E. G. Paley, Lancaster |
Occupation | Architect |
Spouse | Elizabeth Edmunds |
Children | John Percy (1862) Colin Edmunds (1864) Mary Elizabeth (1866) Sholto Theodore (1867) Jerome (1869) |
Parent(s) | John Douglas Mary Swindley |
John Douglas (11 April 1830 – 23 May 1911) was an English architect who designed over 500 buildings in
Douglas's output included new churches,
Throughout his career he attracted commissions from wealthy landowners and industrialists, especially the
Biography
Early life and training
John Douglas was born at Park Cottage,
Nothing is known of John Douglas junior's school education. He gained knowledge and experience in his father's building yard and workshop which were attached to the family house. In the mid or late 1840s he was
Family and personal life
Douglas's elder sister, Elizabeth, was born in 1827. His younger sisters were Mary Hannah and Emma, who were born in 1832 and 1834 respectively. Mary Hannah died five months before Emma's birth, and Emma herself died in 1848.
About 1876 the family moved to live at 31 and 33 Dee Banks, Chester, one of a pair of semi-detached houses overlooking the River Dee, which were built by Douglas. His wife died in 1878 from laryngitis after a year's illness. Douglas did not remarry. His son Colin trained as an architect and worked in Douglas's office but died in 1887 at the age of 23 from consumption. His other son Sholto is not known to have had any profession but he was a heavy drinker of alcohol. During the 1890s Douglas built a large house for himself, Walmoor Hill, also at Dee Banks overlooking the river. Here he lived until his death on 23 May 1911 at the age of 81. His funeral was held at Overleigh old cemetery, Chester, where he was buried. The following Sunday a memorial service was held at St John the Evangelist's Church, Sandiway. His estate amounted to a little over £32,000 (equivalent to £3,470,000 in 2021).[6][7] Apart from his surviving buildings, only two memorials remain to his memory. One is a tablet in St Paul's Church, Boughton, the church in which he worshipped and which he had rebuilt.[8] The other is a plaque placed on one of his buildings in St Werburgh Street, Chester, in 1923 by his pupils and assistants.[9]
Practice and personality
Douglas practised on his own until 1884, when his son, Colin, became ill. He then took Daniel Porter Fordham into partnership and practised as Douglas & Fordham. Fordham was born around 1846 and had been an assistant in Douglas's office since at least 1872. In 1898, having developed consumption, Fordham retired from the practice and went to live in Bournemouth where he died the following year. He was replaced as partner by Charles Howard Minshull, who had been born in Chester in 1858 and who became articled to Douglas in 1874; the practice became Douglas & Minshull. During the first decade of the 20th century, Douglas became less active but, for reasons which are unknown, the partnership was dissolved in 1909. The practice returned to the title of John Douglas, Architect. Minshull went into partnership with E. J. Muspratt in Foregate Street, Chester. When Douglas died, this partnership worked from the Abbey Square address as Douglas, Minshull & Muspratt.[10]
Little is known about Douglas's private life and personality. Only two images of him are known to survive. One is a photograph taken in later middle age. The other is a caricature sketch made by an assistant in his office. This shows him in old age, bowed, bent and bespectacled, carrying a portfolio and an ear trumpet.[11] According to architectural historian Edward Hubbard, Douglas's life "seems to have been one of thorough devotion to architecture ... which may well have been intensified by the death of his wife and other domestic worries".[12] His obituary in the Chester Chronicle stated that he "lived heart and soul in his profession".[12]
Douglas was a dedicated Christian who regularly attended his local church,
Styles and practice
Output and patronage
Douglas designed some 500 buildings.[16] He built at least 40 new churches or chapels, restored, altered or made additions to many other churches, and designed fittings and furniture for the interiors of churches. He designed new houses, altered or made additions to others, and built various structures associated with those houses. Douglas's works also included farms, shops, offices, hotels, a hospital, drinking fountains, clocks, schools, public baths, a library, a bridge, an obelisk, cheese factories, and public conveniences. As his office was in Chester, most of his works were in Cheshire and North Wales, although some were further afield, in Lancashire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Scotland.[17]
Throughout his career Douglas attracted commissions from wealthy and important patrons. His first-known independent work was an ornament, which is no longer in existence, for the garden of the Honourable Mrs Cholmondeley. She was the sister-in-law of Hugh Cholmondeley, 2nd Baron Delamere, and it was from the 2nd Baron that Douglas received his first major commission, a considerable rebuilding of the south wing of his seat at Vale Royal Abbey in 1860. Around the same time, Lord Delamere commissioned him to build the church of St John the Evangelist at Over, Winsford, as a memorial to his first wife.[18]
Douglas's most important patrons were the Grosvenor family of Eaton Hall, Cheshire. In 1865 he was commissioned to design the entrance lodge and other structures for Grosvenor Park in Chester, and St John's Church in the village of Aldford in the Eaton Hall estate for Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster.[19] When the marquess died in 1869 he was succeeded by his son Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster.[20] Douglas received a large number of commissions from the 1st Duke and from his son, the 2nd Duke, throughout his career. It is estimated that for the 1st Duke alone he designed four churches and chapels, eight parsonages and large houses, about 15 schools, around 50 farms (in whole or in part), about 300 cottages, lodges and smithies, two factories, two inns and about 12 commercial buildings on the Eaton Hall estate alone. He also designed buildings on the duke's Halkyn estate in Flintshire, including another church.[21]
Other wealthy landowners who commissioned work from Douglas included William Molyneux, 4th Earl of Sefton, Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere, George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley, Rowland Egerton-Warburton of Arley Hall, Cheshire, and in Wales, the family of Lord Kenyon, and the Gladstone family, including W. E Gladstone.[17] He also received commissions from industrialists, including John & Thomas Johnson, soap and alkali manufacturers from Runcorn,[22] Richard Muspratt, a chemical industrialist from Flint, Flintshire,[23] and W. H. Lever, soap manufacturer and creator of the village of Port Sunlight.[19]
Styles
Although the firm where Douglas received his training was in a provincial city in the north of England, it was at the forefront of the
Douglas's influences were not from England alone. Although he never travelled abroad, he incorporated Gothic styles from continental countries, especially Germany and France. This combination of Gothic styles contributed to what has come to be known as the
Another major influence in his work was the rise of interest in
A characteristic of Douglas's work is his attention to both external and internal detailing. Such detailing was not derived from any particular style and Douglas chose elements from whichever style suited his purpose for each specific project. His detailing applied particularly to his
Significant works
Early works (1860–70)
Douglas's earliest significant commissions were for the
Early mature buildings (1870–84)
Secular
Many of the secular buildings in this period were smaller-scale structures. These include cottages in Great Budworth, and cottages, houses, schools and farms in the Eaton Hall estate and its associated villages.[57] In 1872 he designed Shotwick Park, a large house in Great Saughall, built in brick with some half-timbering; it has steep roofs, tall ribbed chimneys and turrets.[58][59] About the same time he reconstructed Broxton Higher Hall, incorporating much half-timbering.[60][61] Commissions for more large houses came in the late 1870s and 1880s. The Gelli (1877) is a house in three ranges designed for the Kenyon sisters in the village of Tallarn Green, Flintshire.[62][63] Also built for the Kenyon family is Llannerch Panna in Penley, Flintshire (1878–79), which is "competent in its handling of timberwork".[64][65] An entirely black-and-white house with jettying is Rowden Abbey (1881) in Herefordshire.[66] Back in North Wales, Plas Mynach (1883) in Barmouth includes much detailed woodwork internally.[67]
In about 1879–81 Douglas built a terrace of houses on his own land in Chester, 6–11 Grosvenor Park Road, the road leading to the main entrance to Grosvenor Park, in High Victorian style.[68][69] About 1883 he designed Barrowmore Hall (or Barrow Court) at Great Barrow (since demolished) which was one of his largest houses.[70] Also around this time he designed buildings on the Eaton Hall estate, including Eccleston Hill (1881–82), a large house for the Duke's secretary, the Stud Lodge, a smaller building of the same dates, Eccleston Hill Lodge (1881), a three-storey gatehouse at the main entrance to the park, with a high hipped roof and turrets, and The Paddocks (1882–83), another large house, this time for the Duke's land agent.[71] In Chester city centre his designs included the Grosvenor Club and North and South Wales Bank (1881–83) in Eastgate Street, built in stone and brick, with a turret and a stepped gable, and 142 Foregate Street for the Cheshire County Constabulary (1884), with a shaped gable in Flemish style.[72]
Churches
Partnerships
Douglas & Fordham (1884–98)
In 1885–87 the partnership designed
During the partnership, work continued on designing new churches and restoring older ones. In 1884–85 a chapel was built at Carlett Park at
In about 1891–92 the
Douglas & Minshull (1898–1909) and Douglas alone (1909–11)
In 1898 the firm designed
Publication
Douglas published no writings of his own and left no records of his ideas and thoughts. The only publication with which he was associated was the Abbey Square Sketch Book, which he edited. The book appeared in three volumes, the first dated 1872 and the others undated; it consisted of sketches and drawings (with some photographs in the third volume) by many contributors. The pictures depicted buildings and furniture, mainly dating from the late medieval period and the 16th and 17th centuries, and mostly from Cheshire and northwest England. Douglas's only contribution was a jointly ascribed plate in the third volume. It is likely that he designed the title pages, or at least the drawing incorporated in it, of the Abbey Gateway in Chester.[132]
Reputation, influences and legacy
Douglas practised for the whole of his career in a provincial county town, and most of his works were concentrated in Cheshire and North Wales, yet he "conducted a practice which achieved national renown".
Many of the architects training and working in Douglas's office were influenced by him. Perhaps the best known of these were
A large proportion of Douglas's buildings still exist, many of them being listed buildings, in a wide variety of types and styles. Douglas is not remembered for any one building type; his churches and houses are considered to be of equal importance. He was not a pioneer of any particular new development, but instead followed national stylistic trends while still retaining his individuality.[140] His buildings are "anything but copyist" and they "bear a highly individual and nearly always recognisable stamp".[16] The major characteristics of his buildings are "sure proportions, imaginative massing and grouping ... immaculate detailing and a superb sense of craftsmanship and feeling for materials". His work is "architecture which can be enjoyed as well as admired".[141]
See also
- List of works by John Douglas
- List of new churches by John Douglas
- List of church restorations, amendments and furniture by John Douglas
- List of houses and associated buildings by John Douglas
- List of non-ecclesiastical and non-residential works by John Douglas
References
Citations
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Retrieved on 22 January 2008. (subscription or UK public library membershiprequired)
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 1.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 4–5.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 5–9.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 13.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 17.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 10–11.
- ^ a b c Hubbard 1991, p. 11.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 15.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 29.
- ^ a b c Hubbard 1986, p. 74.
- ^ a b Hubbard 1991, pp. 238–279.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 27.
- ^ a b Hubbard 1991, p. 28.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 60.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 63–64.
- ^ a b King, Roger, John Douglas 1830–1911, Northwich: Northwich and District Heritage Society, p. 6
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 254.
- ISBN 978-0-500-20139-8
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 19.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 19–21.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 22.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 41.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 38–58.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 47.
- ^ Lewis, C. P.; Thacker, A. T., eds. (2003), "The City of Chester: General History and Topography: Topography 900–1914: Victorian and Edwardian, 1840–1914", A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 part 1, pp. 229–238, retrieved 22 January 2008
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 38.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 39.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 77–80.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 82–88.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 93.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 95.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 109, 126–127.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 40–42.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 368.
- ^ a b Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 389.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 44–46.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 46–48.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 160.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 48.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 50–53.
- ^ a b Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 333.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Pollard & Pevsner 2006, p. 621.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 62.
- ^ a b Muthesius 1979, p. 32.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 129–130, 241.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 79–101.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 114–115, 243.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 229.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 105, 107.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 117.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 104–105.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, p. 445.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 107–109.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, p. 416.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 109.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 109–111.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 112–114.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 164.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 116–118.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 118–120.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 120–123.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 124–125.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 381–382.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 125–126.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 126–127.
- ^ Pollard & Pevsner 2006, pp. 179–180.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 127.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 130–137.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 137–139.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 317.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 376.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 149.
- ^ Pevsner 2002, p. 186.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 151.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 155.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 157.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, pp. 362–364.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 158–166.
- ^ a b Hubbard 1991, p. 166.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 212.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 155–156.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 167.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 168–171.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 307, 312–313.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 188.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 173–174.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Historic England, "2–18 St Werburgh St, Chester (1376389)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 18 August 2013
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 162.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 189.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 173.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 173–177.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 379.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 177–178.
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- ^ Pollard & Pevsner 2006, pp. 195–196.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 182.
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- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 263.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 184, 268.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, pp. 380–381.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 184.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 184–185.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 185–186.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 192.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 192–196.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 194–195.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 196.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 196–197.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 198–200.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 200–202.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 274.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 202, 276.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, p. 443.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 202–204.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 204.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, p. 135.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 11–13.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 23.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 32–34.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 34.
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard 2003, p. 35.
- ^ Hubbard 1986, p. 73.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 34, 36.
- ^ a b Hubbard 1991, pp. 205–207.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, pp. 209–210.
- ^ Hubbard 1991, p. 210.
Sources
- ISBN 0-14-071052-3
- Hubbard, Edward (1991), The Work of John Douglas, London: ISBN 0-901657-16-6
- ISBN 0-258-97101-0
- ISBN 0-300-09617-8
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-09588-0
- Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006), Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10910-5
External links