Architects

Name:

John Carr

Designation :

Architect

Date of Birth:

Year Only

Exact DOB:

04/04/1926

Year of Birth :

1723

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Date of Death:

Exact Date

Exact DOD:

22/02/1807

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Bio Notes :

John Carr was born in May 1723 in Yorkshire, the eldest of the six sons of Robert Carr,(1697-1760), stonemason, and his wife Rose Lascelles who was the daughter of a gentleman. The Carr family had been stonemasons and quarry masters for several generations, owning quarries at Horbury, near Wakefield. Robert Carr acted as one of the surveyors of Bridges to the West Riding and is described as ‘architect’ on his monumental inscription.

John Carr was educated at the local school and trained as a stonemason probably with his father whom he assisted in the quarry, and worked on the construction of buildings for which they had supplied the stone. He also made a survey of bridges for the West Riding Magistrates. He was largely self-taught in architecture and relied on practical experience, supplemented by standard manuals such as Roger Morris’s ‘Select Architecture’, a copy of which Carr is known to have owned. Although he may have visited France in 1771, he seems not to have gone on the Grand Tour.

By 1750 John Carr had already begun to develop his architectural practice. Huthwaite Hall was built to his designs in 1748 and several other houses followed soon after. In 1752 the Corporation of York commissioned him to erect an ornamental building over the Pikeing Wellhead and at its completion (1757) he was admitted a freeman of the City. He had already moved to live in the City by that date. When he won the commission (in competition with James Paine) for the grandstand at Knavesmire racecourse, he was brought to the attention of the local gentry. Many commissions for country houses and public buildings soon followed throughout the counties in the north of England. In 1760 he succeeded his father as one of the two Surveyors of Bridges for the West Riding but resigned the post when he was offered the post of Surveyor of Bridges to the North Riding which was better paid. His most important commission in this post was the bridge that carried the Great North Road over the River Aire at Ferrybridge. Architecturally his most notable bridge was the single arch classical style bridge at Rokeby.

Despite the demands of a busy practice Carr was involved in the affairs of the city. In 1766 he was appointed one of the city chamberlains and in 1767 he was elected a sheriff but paid the usual fine to be excused from serving. He was an alderman in 1769 and in 1770 was Lord Mayor in which post he is known to have performed his duties in an exemplary fashion. He served briefly as Lord Mayor in 1785 to complete the term of office after then Lord Mayor died mid-term.

By this date Carr was a wealthy man. He had a busy architectural practice along with the profits as a builder and his salary as Surveyor of Bridges. In 1793 he rebuilt the church in Horbury at his own expense and in 1789 purchased a house there. This was intended to be the home of his nephew as he had no children of his own. Toward the end of his life he retired to Askham Richard, near York, and purchased a mansion and estate. Although of advanced years he was still able to make long tours of the county to show off his buildings to his great-nieces.

Carr died on 22 February 1807 at the age of 83 leaving a substantial fortune and was buried in the church at Horbury. His practice was taken over by his chief assistant Peter Atkinson in whose family it remained for many years.

Carr assimilated the Palladian style early in his career and remained true to its principles. As a young man he was involved in the building of Kirby Hall which was designed in part by Lord Burlington, the pre-eminent promulgator of the Palladian style. Some of Carr’s favourite design features such as the Serlian windows, the treatment of wings as subordinate pavilions and the use of Vitruvian principles of proportion were adopted under the influence of Burlington. In his early works the Palladian style was tempered by rich rococo stuccowork. In his later work he made good imitations of the neo-classical interiors of Robert Adam. He also could produce designs in the Gothic style when the need arose such as at Raby Castle.

Colvin considers some of Carr’s work, such as the Assize Court at York to have been just as good as that of Chambers or Adam. At the time Carr was highly respected in sophisticated architectural circles at the time. He was elected to the London Architects Club and was its only provincial member. A large number of his designs feature in Wolfe & Gandon’s ‘Vitruvius Britannicus’ and in Richardson’s ‘New Vitruvius Britannicus’. He also kept abreast of new technology such as damp-proof courses, double glazing and iron window-sills.

There are various portraits of Carr, including one which hangs in the Mansion House in York and a bust in the York Art Gallery.

Bio Notes continued...

Additional Notes

The following private or business addresses are associated with this person:

Private Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From Char	Date From Type	Date To Char	Date To Type	Notes
York England	Private/business

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Business Addresses2 classic

Address	Class	Date From	Date From Type	Date To	Date To Type	Notes
York England	Private/business

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This person was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details):

Buildings and Designs2 classic

Building Name	Date Started	Town, District or Village	City or County	Country	Notes
Harewood House	In year 1757		Yorkshire	England	Initial designs for house
Glamis Castle	In year 1763		Angus	Scotland	Prepared designs for remodelling Great tower and wings
Kelso Racecourse grandstand	In year 1778	Kelso	Roxburghshire	Scotland	Plans drawn up

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The following books contain references to this person:

Bib ref classic

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Part
Colvin, H M	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	1995	New Haven and London: Yale University Press	3rd edition
Wragg, Brian	John Carr of York	2000	ed. Giles Worsley. York.
Colvin, Howard	A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840	2008	London: YUP. 4th edition
APSD	The Dictionary of Architecture		The Architectural Publication Society (8v 1852-1892)	ed Wyatt Papworth
Wragg, R B	John Carr: Gothic Revivalist	1956	Singleton (ed.) Studies in Architectural History, ii
Hall, Ivan	John Carr: A New Approach	1972	York Georgian Society\'s Report, 1972
Wragg, R B	John Carr: Bridgemaster	1957	York Georgian Society\'s Report, 1957

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The following periodicals contain references to this person:

Period ref classic

Periodical Name	Date Circ	Edition	Notes
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal	1877	iv	Article by R Davies ' A Memoir of John Carr'.
RIBA Journal	1910/01/22		Article by S D Kitson: 'Carr of York'.
Country Life	1987/04/30		Giles Worsley: 'John Carr's Last tour'.
Country Life	1988/05/05		Giles Worsley: 'Attributing John Carr'.

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Basic Biographic Details

Addresses

Private Addresses

Private Addresses2 classic

Business Addresses

Business Addresses2 classic

Buildings and Designs

Buildings and Designs2 classic

References

Bibliographic References

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Periodical References

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