John Douglas (1830–1911) was an English architect based in Chester, Cheshire. His designs included new churches, alterations to and restoration of existing churches, church furnishings, new houses and alterations to existing houses. He also designed a variety of other buildings, including shops, banks, offices, schools, memorials and public buildings.[1] His architectural styles were eclectic, but as he worked during the period of the Gothic Revival, much of his work incorporates elements of the English Gothic style.[2] Douglas is probably best remembered for his incorporation of vernacular elements in his buildings, especially half-timbering.[3] Of particular importance is Douglas' use of joinery and highly detailed wood carving.[4]
Douglas was born in the Cheshire village of Sandiway and was articled to the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley, later becoming his chief assistant. He established an office in Chester in either 1855 or 1860, from where he practised throughout his career.[1][5] Initially he ran the office himself but in 1884 he appointed a former assistant, Daniel Porter Fordham, as a partner. When Fordham retired in 1897, he was succeeded by Charles Howard Minshull. In 1909 this partnership was dissolved and Douglas ran the office alone until his death in 1911.[6] As his office was in Chester, most of his work was carried out in Cheshire and North Wales, although some was further afield in regions including Merseyside, Greater Manchester, and Shropshire.[7]
This list consists of the major, or more unusual, works carried out by Douglas, excluding his work on or related to churches or houses.[8] It contains a great variety of buildings, including schools, shops, offices, hotels, public houses, banks, model farms, cheese factories and a gentlemen's club. More utilitarian buildings include public baths and a public convenience. Other commissions undertaken by Douglas included in the list include a commemorative clock, memorials, a bridge, park gates and walls, a canopy over a well, a temporary triumphal arch, and an obelisk in the drive of a stately home. Many of these have been recognised as listed buildings. Listed buildings are divided into three grades according to their importance (see key).[9] The details have been taken from the Catalogue of Works in Edward Hubbard's biography.[7] Works attributed to Douglas by Hubbard on stylistic grounds together with evidence of a local association, even though they are not confirmed by other reliable evidence, are included.[10] Where this is the case, it is stated in the Notes column. Unexecuted schemes are not included.
This was Douglas' earliest recorded independent work, designed for a Mrs. Cholmondeley. It consisted of an octagonal structure with a sundial on one side and a griffin motif on the other. It is no longer in existence.[11]
The school was built of brick with stone dressings, and had a central tower with a pyramidal roof. It became the offices of the Corporation Works Department and has since been demolished.[12][13]
This is a shop, built for Robert Garnett and Sons. Its front in the ground floor has been replaced but the upper storeys remain. Hubbard considers this to be one of Douglas' best buildings.[14]
Douglas designed a new building for the school in 1869, and in 1874–78 a master's house with accommodation for boarders. The buildings have since been altered and the school, now named Sir John Deane's College, is on a different site.[25]
Built as shop premises for his client G. Hodgkinson, the building is still occupied by shops; it is timber-framed with brick nogging and some pargetted plaster panels.[35]
Originally a grammar school for boys replacing an earlier school, it is now a primary school. It is built in brick with slate roofs and incorporates a slate-clad turret.[38]
This was built for the 1st Duke of Westminster. It has not been possible to determine the location of this factory, or if it is still in existence.[41]
This former inn was remodelled for the 1st Duke of Westminster and promoted by him as a working men's coffee tavern. Above the ground floor it was entirely half-timbered, with some brick nogging; it has been demolished.[48]
This was built for John Scott Bankes as a brick and half-timbered newsroom, sessions house and police station. The sessions and house and police station have since been used for other purposes, and are separately listed at Grade II.[49][50]
Douglas designed this cottage hospital.[49][53] The hospital has been superseded by Mold Community Hospital on a different site.[54] It has not been possible to determine its present use, or if it is still in existence.
This was built for the 1st Duke of Westminster as a school with an attached house for the schoolmaster. The house is constructed in brick with a timber-framed upper storey, and the school is in sandstone with three gables; it is now used as a parish hall.[55][56]
Built as a combined gentlemen's club and bank, it is constructed in brick and stone and has two turrets. On its front are the date 1881, the Grosvenorarms, and a frieze with the arms of the twelve former shires of Wales. Additions to the building were made in 1908 and it is now in use as an HSBC bank.[65]
This was built for John Churton and consists of a drinking fountain with a granite base and sandstone upper parts. It originally stood at a road junction, but because it was interfering with traffic flow, it was moved to its present site in the 1930s.[67][68]
The memorial was built to commemorate Joseph Peers JP during his lifetime. It incorporates a clock tower, a horse trough and a drinking fountain, and includes Jacobean motifs.[70][71]
Douglas remodelled a pre-existing public house and hotel and added another section, making it into a single building that is now the Castle Hotel. Small, broken pieces of limestone were used as a facing material, giving it a flint-like appearance.[75][76]
This was built as parish rooms and a caretaker's house for Rowland Egerton-Warburton and continues in use as parish rooms. It is built in brick with sandstone dressings and has decorative lozenge shapes in brick and painted plaster.[27][82]
This was built as a shop with living quarters above in red brick with blue brick diapering and stone dressings for the 1st Duke of Westminster. It has shaped gables and twisted brick chimneys.[84]
The front of the school is built in limestone with sandstone dressings. Its entrance is in an off-centre tower and it has a range of gables on each side.[86][87]
This was built as a school for the Lever Brothers; it is in red brick with blue brick diapering and stone dressings, and has shaped gables and a tower. It is now used as a social centre and architects' offices.[93][97]
It consists of a range of shops and a bank developed by Douglas on land he owned. The ground floor is in sandstone and the upper stories are in highly ornamented timber framing.[99][100]
Douglas designed this commercial property to improve the view towards Chester Cathedral. It consists of a two-storey office block in brick and half-timber with a turret.[100][105]
One of Douglas' few utilitarian buildings, it was constructed for Chester City Council and involved specialist engineering work; it is still in use as swimming baths.[107]
W. E. Gladstone set up a trust for this building as a place for study and learning. Construction did not start until after his death, starting with the library, and residential accommodation was added a few years later.[113][114]
Douglas won a competition to design this school for Caernarvonshire Education Committee. Its front is in two storeys, with a central three-storey tower.[116][117]
Douglas owned the land on which this part of a range of shops was built. In the upper storey are three pairs of canted five-light oriel windows, and between each pair of windows is a carved figure.[119][120]
This part of the range of shops is built on medievalundercrofts. The upper storey contains two seven-light bowedoriel windows, each with further windows on each side, forming a row of continuous glazing.[119][120]
Built on a corner site, this consisted of a bank with shops on both sides. The bank is flanked by two turrets, and to its right is a stair tower; all these have conical roofs. The part of the building formerly housing the bank is now used as a shop and offices.[126][127]
This is the most complex and detailed building in the range of shops, standing at its north end. The upper storey is timber framed and at its corner is a painted effigy of Edward VII.[119][129]
Formerly the Woolpack Inn, it was rebuilt by Douglas incorporating the previously existing medieval undercroft that possibly contains Roman stonework.[131]
Built as a department store for the Chester Cooperative Society, it is Douglas' only building in Baroque style. It has since extended to form a range of separate shops.[136]
