Gibson Kyle

Richard Gibson Kyle (1820–1903), known professionally as Gibson Kyle, was an English architect practising in and around Newcastle upon Tyne. His father was a Northumberland journeyman mason and contractor-builder. Kyle was articled to his uncle John Dobson and worked with him on local projects such as Newcastle railway station, some of the Quayside buildings, and the King Street-Queen Street block which was the site of a major fire in 1867.

Among his independent works, he designed an extension which forms part of the College of St Hild and St Bede, now part of Newcastle University, besides the Chaucer Building in Grainger Street West, tenements, baths for Newcastle Lunatic Asylum, and baths and a wash house for the general public. Around north-east England he designed a number of nonconformist chapels and parsonages, and he was architect to the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

As a young man he lay in wait and caught a burglar who was carrying away of lead. He was teetotal and took part in the temperance movement. He was involved in a number of business ventures in Newcastle, and he took active part in local politics.

Background

Kyle's paternal grandparents were mason Joseph Kyle (1759 or 1760–1849), and Jane Barnes. Kyle's father was also named Gibson Kyle (1789–1867), and he was a mason. Kyle's mother was Elizabeth Dobson (1793–1868). In 1821 along with his brother-in-law John Dobson, Gibson Kyle senior was a witness in the indictment of the bailiffs and burgesses of Morpeth, regarding the "ruinous state of the bridge of that town." Kyle senior, the bridge surveyor for the county, reported that the bridge, known as Three Mile Bridge, was so narrow that he had to dismount from his horse at the widest part of the bridge, to let a carriage pass him. It was Gibson Kyle senior who in 1835 designed the replacement Lowford Bridge, a skew bridge that permitted the B6343 road to be straightened a little. His stone arches "threatened to collapse" but were rebuilt with the assistance of Edward Chapman of Newcastle, who replaced the stone with brick. Gibson Kyle senior was one of the contractors for building Morpeth Gaol (designed by John Dobson in 1822–1828), and his servant Sarah Detchen who stole from him was the first convict to be jailed there. By 1843 Kyle senior was a journeyman mason, a builder-contractor and an insolvent debtor.

Life

Richard Gibson Kyle was born in Ponteland, Northumberland, in 1820, and died at 2 Roseville, Bensham, Gateshead on 21 January 1903, aged 82 years. His wife was Mrs Elizabeth Dowson, (Hexham ca.1819 – Gateshead 1868), the former "active, intelligent and kind" matron of Newcastle Infirmary, and widowed by 1851. They married in Haltwhistle in July 1855, and their son was the architect Alfred Gibson Kyle (1856–1940). Gibson Kyle was a teetotaller, and belonged to the Newcastle auxiliary of the United Kingdom Alliance. He is buried in Elswick Cemetery, Newcastle.

In 1842, Kyle caught a burglar. Thomas Middlemass, who worked in Richard Grainger's Clayton Street shop, had noticed that lead was going missing, and young Kyle was hidden away there to watch for the thief. He saw John Marshall enter by the window and leave with of lead, and Marshall was still carrying it when Kyle caught him. The thief was taken to Court and committed to the sessions.

In 1866, Kyle was called for jury service. The jury was reassured that although they would be dealing with a great number of cases, the majority would be "very trifling in description." The sessions began with a list of thefts. In 1892, Kyle was called as a witness at the inquest regarding fatalities in the Gateshead Theatre Royal fire of 1892. Eleven people were killed in a crush at the gallery door, during a panic following cries of fire. Expert witnesses, including Kyle, stated that the number of exits and lack of fire precautions made the theatre unsafe.

Business and local politics

Gibson Kyle was heavily involved in local business issues, including the gas lighting industry in 1859. He or his father took part in the procession of directors of the North Eastern Railway Company at the opening of Jarrow docks in 1859. In 1866 Kyle was a director of the Union Permanent Benefit Building Society, whose offices were at 93 Clayton Street, Newcastle. Kyle was regularly involved in the sale of land with development plans. For example, in 1868 he was selling 13 villa sites on 13 acres of land at the "east end of East Bolden." He also sold buildings and he was a director of the Tyne, Wear and Tees Property Trust. For example, in 1864 he was advertising a pub, shops, houses and domestic lettings in Newcastle. He was a moneylender, too. For example, in November 1888 he was offering £200,000 () to lend at 3.75 percent, and in March 1889 he had £45,000 () to lend at 3.5–4 per cent.

In 1868, Kyle was elected a town councillor for the West Ward of Gateshead, on a Ratepayers' Association ticket since he vowed to lower the rates, though he received both cheers and hisses when he won. In 1874 Kyle was elected as a member of Newcastle Town Council for Westgate Ward, the polling having taken place in a shed in the cattle market, where the voting numbers had been low.

Career

Kyle was apprenticed to his uncle John Dobson. "Mr Dobson did not trouble himself much about articled pupils or apprentices. He was always too full of business to give either room or time for the purely elementary education of beginners. Mr Dobson insisted on some proficiency and fitness in those he employed. He was always approachable to his assistants ... He often said, ''If you err, err on the side of strength.'' He had a horror of shams, and warned young men of the dangers attending flimsy and cheap construction." Kyle worked alongside Dobson and Richard Grainger, and was Grainger's foreman when some of their major works were carried out. Between them, they changed the face of Newcastle by demolishing and rebuilding. When they built the Central Station, Kyle was clerk of works. With Dobson he built "a magnificent pile of buildings on the Quayside," as well as other buildings in the city, including a training college and other public buildings.

Kyle's first office as an independent architect was at 16 Market Street, then in May 1865 he moved to 2 St Nicholas' Buildings, Newcastle. By March 1892 he was working from 130 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. Kyle was appointed architect to the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral, and he designed a "large number of churches" in the area. He was a "stickler for thoroughness," he was one of the founders of the Northern Architectural Association, and when young he was a "keen politician." His ''Newcastle Daily Chronicle'' obituary said,

"There are none to whom the saying that their works live after them is more appropriate than the great architect, for though his most durable monuments pass away, they remain to exercise influence for many years, speaking to those who gaze upon them."

In 1869 at Kyle's office in St Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tom Bell aged 23, one of Kyle's assistants, fell through a skylight and was severely injured. He had been looking out of an upstairs window when he climbed out onto a skylight to retrieve a pen. The skylight gave way, and he dropped 40 feet into the lobby. He was "greatly stunned" and badly cut with broken glass. He was treated at the Infirmary, then taken home by his sisters.

Postcard of Quayside, Newcastle.jpg, Buildings by Dobson and Kyle on Quayside, Newscastle
Newcastle Central Station (1850).jpg, Newcastle Central Station in 1850
St Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle 4591141 e9c6640b.jpg, St Nicholas Buildings

Connections with other architects

In Newcastle, Kyle associated with other architects, including his contemporary Septimus Oswald (1823–1894), whose funeral he attended in 1894. Oswald designed Newcastle General Hospital (formerly the workhouse hospital) in 1870. He was father of architect Joseph Oswald (1851–1930) who designed the Central Arcade, and Newcastle Breweries' head office in Newgate Street.

One of Kyle's last assistants was James Newton Fatkin (c.1882–1940), who also came from Ponteland. After Kyle's death, Fatkin acquired and developed the business, designing flats at 63 Fern Avenue, Eslington terrace and Osborne Avenue, Newcastle. He designed "numerous cinemas throughout the North," and during World War II converted basements into air raid shelters.

Joseph G. Angus of Low Fell (b.Gateshead 1842), a member of the leather and rubber manufacturing family of Grainger Street West, was articled as an architect to Gibson Kyle. But "he was too fond of agricultural pursuits to settle down to plan drawing," so he emigrated to Natal around 1875, and farmed there.

Works in association with John Dobson

King Street – Queen Street block, Akenside Hill, circa 1863

This is the triangular block bounded to the north by Akenside Hill, to the south by Queens Street and to the east by the upper stepped end of King Street. On 20 December 1867 this new Italian-style block, worth £9,000 () to £10,000 (), designed by Gibson and Kyle as part of Newcastle's Quayside improvement scheme, burnt down in a great fire.

The fire was first discovered in the premises of Messrs Bell and Dunn, shiphandlers and hardwaremen, where a considerable quantity of very combustible material was stowed away, consisting of hemp, tar, rosin, and other articles usually sold by ship chandlers. Soon the premises were in a complete blaze, and the fire extended, spreading right and left, to the offices of Mr Southern, timber merchant, 9 Queen Street; Mr J. Liddel, the Mickley Coal Company; Mr Hilson Philipson, coal fitter; Mr Henry Scholefield, in Queen Street; Messrs Hall Brothers, in King Street; Messrs J.H. and P. Brown, merchants; and Messrs Forster, Blackett and Wilson, lead merchants, Queen Street, and others.

This event occurred on the same spot as a previous explosion and fire of 1854. No-one was hurt on this occasion, and several heroic acts were reported, including that of plumber Caleb Jobling (1823–1869), who was "very active in the dangerous task of breaking off the connections of the roofs by which the fire was prevented from spreading to the adjoining buildings."

Independent works

Durham Diocesan Training School (extension), 1856–1858

On 28 May 1856 Kyle was calling for tenders from prospective builders of this extension, which involved "erection of the principal's residence, and forming additional dormitories &c., in present building." Because it was completed in the same period, Kyle is likely to have designed the Model School which was attached to the main building for teaching experience purposes. In 1858 the Durham Diocesan Female Training School (later called the College of St Hild) was opened close by. The architect of St Hild is unknown.

This unlisted building extended by Kyle was known as the Durham Diocesan Training School for Masters between 1839 and 1886 when it was renamed Bede College. It trained elementary school masters, and by 1860 the numbers of pupils had increased from five to fifty. The College of St Hild and St Bede is now part of Durham University.

Former Methodist New Connexion Chapel and schoolroom, Ripon, 1859

Kyle called for tenders on 24 May 1859, for "a new chapel and school room for the Methodist New Connexion, in the city of Ripon. in 1877 this building in Cemetery Road was demolished and replaced by the larger Melbourne Terrace Chapel, designed by Edward Taylor of York.

Methodist New Connexion Chapel, Hartlepool, 1859–1860

On 29 October 1859 the foundation stone for this chapel was laid by Mrs Joseph Love, wife of benefactor Joseph Love of Willington Hall, Greater Willington. There was a "large and respectable" procession from the Freemasons' Hall, Hartlepool, and a "large gathering" at the site. There had been special trains booked for the guests, and seating platforms and banners had been set up. There was hymn-singing, a speech and a tea. Kyle's design, seating 800 people, was "an elegant structure," and "somewhat Byzantine in character." It measured 70 by 42 feet, and included classrooms, schoolrooms and vestries. In the gallery behind the pulpit was an organ by Nicholson of Newcastle.

The chapel was opened for services on Easter Sunday, 8 April 1860. There was a "spacious lecture hall" under the chapel, and a fund-raising bazaar was held there between 9 and 11 April. There were special sermons by guest speaker Rev. S. Hulme of Leeds on the following Sunday, and the public tea was held on Monday 16 April in the chapel's lecture hall.

Methodist New Connexion Chapel, Spennymoor, 1860–1861

The foundation stone for the Methodist New Connexion Chapel at Spennymoor, Durham, was laid on 10 April 1860 "before a large assemblage" by benefactor Joseph Love of Durham. This was another of Kyle's designs. Rev. John Stokes preached, and the tea was provided by Tudhoe Ironworks.

Former Primitive Methodist Chapel, Durham, 1860–1861

This building, later called the Jubilee Primitive Methodist Chapel, replaced a previous 1825 chapel in Silver Street, Durham, at a cost of £1,900 () to £2,000 (). The building committee, naming Kyle as architect, called for tenders for this work to be received by 21 July 1860. This second chapel was in North Road, on a plot extending between the New North Road and Crossgate. The laying of the foundation stone by Solicitor General Sir William Atherton MP, on 22 October 1860, was a major event involving a procession from the town hall and a crowd of 2,000 people. The building was opened in October 1861, although the celebrating began on 19 May. The building "held 600, had galleries on 3 sides and boasted a starlight with 51 gas jets suspended from the ceiling." In 1959–1961 the Jubilee Chapel congregation was merged with Bethel Church and renamed North Road Methodist Church. Kyle's 1861 building was demolished in 1961.

New Connexion Methodist Chapel, Jarrow, 1861

The foundation stone of this New Connextion Methodist Chapel near Ormonde Street at Jarrow was laid on 3 June 1861 by Matthew Stainton of South Shields. Kyle designed it to accommodate 300 people on the ground floor. Either side of the entrance hall were a classroom and vestry. The design was of "Italian character." It had:

"... pressed bricks to the walling, and molded brick cornices, string-courses &c. The entrance doorway aswell recessed, and, with the various windows, adarched heads. The interior asfitted up with open benches of stained and varnished deal, arranged so as to rise by easy steps from the level of the preacher's platform. The organ and choristers ereplaced on a gallery over the entrance and vestry.

Former Free Methodist chapel and schools, Newcastle, 1861

Kyle called for tenders for this building in 1861. It is possibly a red brick rebuild of the 1799 Lower Street Chapel, sold by the Wesleyans to the United Methodist Free Church in 1863. It closed in 1939, and was demolished.

Connexion Chapel at Witton Gilbert, 1861

It is likely that this is the present Wesleyan Chapel at Witton Gilbert, also known as Witton Gilbert Methodist Chapel, which in the 19th century was used by the United Methodists. It is on the north side of the B6312 road, where it branches northward from Front Street.

The Witton Gilbert chapel was opened with an "overflowing congregation" on Sunday 15 December 1861. The stone building was designed in the "early pointed period of ecclesiastical architecture." The porch has a "pointed doorway with trefoil arch opening, splayed jambs, moulded labels, &c. The gable fronting the street is pierced with pointed arch window openings, having splayed dressings. The interior fittings ere/nowiki> of Petersburg pine, wrought, stained and varnished. A platform as/nowiki> provided in the recess of the rear gable, to answer for public meetings as well as for the usual Sunday services. Adjoining the chapel as/nowiki> a vestry, with an entrance from the porch." Kyle was credited with the design, and James Smith was the builder.

Former Wesley Chapel, Prudhoe Street, Newcastle, 1861–1862

The Wesley Chapel was a replacement for the smaller Wesley Chapel in Bridge Street. This new one was designed by Kyle for the United Free Methodists at a cost of £3,500. It was built near the police station at the east end of Prudhoe Street. The foundation stone was laid on 3 December 1861 by John Reay of Wallsend, who was presented with a silver trowel. A "large number" of people came to the ceremony. In his speech, Reay said that he had been a Methodist for over fifty years, he had laid foundation stones for more than ten chapels, and he was a trustee for sixteen schools and chapels. A time capsule in the form of a bottle was placed under the cornerstone, containing a "local newspaper, names of the elected trustees, architect and contractors, a copy of the circuit plan, and of a placard announcing the event, and a small coin of the realm." A "large company" of perhaps 2,000 people attended the "public soirée," or tea, which followed at the New Town Hall.

The chapel was opened for services to "numerous congregations" on 17 September 1862. It was designed for a congregation of 800 in the " Italian Gothic style of architecture." It had two porches giving access to the galleries. On the ground floor were lecture rooms, classrooms to seat 200 children, and vestries. It was "built with moulded bricks and white-stone dressings to openings, cornices, tablings &c ... The whole of the interior woodwork was of Petersburg pine, stained and varnished. Fresh air asadmitted through the cast-iron columns that support dthe galleries, and through ventilators in the walls. The chapel and schoolrooms erewarmed by hot water apparatus ... Four starlights and ventilating tubes ereplaced in the ceiling of the chapel." Wilson and Berry contracted for the joinery and carpentry, and J. Kyle contracted the mason work. The ''Building News'' reported:

It is one of the finest specimens of the combination of art with utility which the modern architectural revival has given to Newcastle ... The prevalent red-brick front has been most judiciously relieved by the stone dressings; and the windows, to the mullions of which a very dark tint has been given, are most effectively placed with regard to utility, both for illuminating purposes and architectural effect. In the interior also, the decorations harmonise well with the various fittings; the panels of the gallery which run round the building have received a share of decoration which is too often denied to the same portion of other churches; and the pulpit, which like the gallery, is of light, polished pinewood, has its carved panels elegantly inlaid with crimson. The columns which support the gallery are of iron, and furnish another example of the successful application of that metal in architecture.

In the 1970s, Prudhoe Street was demolished, and the Eldon Square Shopping Centre was built in its place.

Choppington Parsonage, Morpeth, 1867

Kyle called for tenders for the erection of Choppington parsonage, near Morpeth, Northumberland, in April and May 1867. The church itself was designed by Joseph Clarke of London, architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. It was intended for the local mining community. When newly built, the church stood "on an eminence to the south-east side of the northern turnpike, on the Willow Bridge Farm ... nd was/nowiki> pleasantly situated, situated as it as/nowiki>, surrounded by a plantation, through which access ad/nowiki> been made to the hurch/nowiki> building. The "new parsonage house for the incumbent" was built after the 1866 church and on its east side, and the Ecclesiastical Commission voted £1,400 () from the Queen Anne's Bounty, for construction.

Former Angus & Co. warehouse, Grainger Street, Newcastle, 1867–1868

In April 1867, Kyle was calling for tenders for "different works to be done in erecting shops, offices, four-storey warehouse &c. in St John's Lane (later re-named Grainger Street West), Newcastle. This warehouse, founded on 3 September 1867, and opened on 26 August 1868, and built for India-rubber dealer George Angus, was next to the old Savings Bank. The Angus warehouse is now demolished; the site is now 27 Grainger Street West. It was part of a development called the St John's Lane Improvements, between Grainger Street and Westgate Street. This direct route between Newcastle railway station and the city centre had previously been "narrow and inconvenient," with its "beggarly and ricketty" houses which contained a "broad block of buildings that were a hotbed and receptacle of fevers and other epidemic diseases," and a "population of the lowest class." The development, to be known as Grainger Street West, would join Grainger Street to the railway station via a "broad carriage road and footpaths."

The rebuild was, however, delayed, causing "great complaints" because no-one initially wanted to move premises there. Finally leather factor and merchant George Angus & Co., acquired a L-shaped site and built this three-storey warehouse next to the pre-existing Savings Bank. The foundation stone was laid on 3 September 1867. The time capsule inside the cornerstone contained local daily papers, coins of the realm, and the following document:

This stone was laid on Tuesday, the 3rd day of September, in the year 1867. It forms the foundation of the first block of buildings erected on the site of old St John's Lane, at the expense of Geo. Angus Esq., proprietor. It was designed by Mr. Gibson Kyle, contracted for by Mr. Robert Robson and Messrs. J. and W. Lowry, and superintended by Mr T. Alderson, clerk of the works. The foundation stone was laid by John Henry Angus, eldest son of the proprietor., Sept. 3, 1867. Newcastle on Tyne.

Following the ceremony there was a dinner with speeches and toasts. During the excavations for the foundations, some groundworker