John Gwynn (architect)
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John Gwynn (1713 – 28 February 1786) was an English architect and civil engineer, who became one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. He advocated greater control over planning in London, for which he produced detailed suggestions. His buildings include
Magdalen Bridge Magdalen Bridge spans the divided stream of the River Cherwell just to the east of the City of Oxford, England, and next to Magdalen College, whence it gets its name and pronunciation. It connects the High Street to the west with The Plain, n ...
and the Covered Market in Oxford, and several bridges over the
River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
.


Life

Gwynn was born and died in Shrewsbury,
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
. He worked initially as a carpenter, but then decided to practice as a (largely self-taught) architect and town planner, moving to
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he became a friend of Samuel Johnson. In 1749, when Sir Christopher Wren's drawings were sold, Gwynn obtained Wren's plan for the rebuilding of the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
, and published it, adding some comments of his own. Seventeen years later, in 1766, he published ''London and Westminster Improved'', It was passed in June of the same year. in which he criticised the loose control over building in the West End, saying that "the finest part of town is left to ignorant and capricious persons", and called for development to be controlled by a general plan.Summerson 1962, p.121 He made more than a hundred suggestions for improvements to the capital. They included the rebuilding of London Bridge; the construction of a "St, George's Bridge" in the position where
Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at t ...
was eventually built; a "King's Square" on the site of the
Royal Mews The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British Royal Family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and ...
(later occupied by
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
); a royal palace in
Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...
; a street following a route close to that of Nash's later Regent Street and quays along both sides of the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. The ''Quarterly Review'' noted in 1826 that
No part of his ingenious design, however, was adopted: the publication does not appear to have produced any public interest at the time; and Mr. Gwynn has been so little thought of since that his designs lately brought forward as original conceptions.
However proposals similar to many of Gwynn's were eventually implemented; in the twentieth century, John Summerson wrote that "the amazing thing about this plan is its complete grip on reality", his only impractical belief being that the growth of London could be stopped at Hyde Park in the west and at the Marylebone Road in the north.Summerson 1962, p.122 Gwynn influenced the drafting of the
Building Act 1774 The Building Act 1774 (formally known as the Fires Prevention (Metropolis) Act 1774) was an Act passed in 1774 by the Parliament of Great Britain to consolidate earlier legislation and to regulate the design and construction of new buildings i ...
which improved standards of materials and workmanship –
Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...
was one of the first areas of London to benefit. In 1759, he unsuccessfully submitted a design to the competition for the new
Blackfriars Bridge Blackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is in the City of London near the Inns of Court and Temple Ch ...
. Samuel Johnson lobbied on his behalf, sending three letters in his support to the ''Daily Gazetteer'', but plans by Robert Mylne were preferred. He was particularly associated with projects in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, including
Magdalen Bridge Magdalen Bridge spans the divided stream of the River Cherwell just to the east of the City of Oxford, England, and next to Magdalen College, whence it gets its name and pronunciation. It connects the High Street to the west with The Plain, n ...
(1772–90), the city's workhouse (1772–73) and the Covered Market (1774), and with bridges across the
River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
including the "
English Bridge The English Bridge is a masonry arch viaduct, crossing the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The present bridge is a 1926 rebuilding and widening (re-using the original masonry) of John Gwynn's design, completed in 1774. A bridge is ...
", in his native Shrewsbury (1769), and others at
Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the village. To the south is the village of Cross Houses and ...
(1769–71),
Llandrinio Llandrinio is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, close to the Wales-England border. It is situated on the B4393 road which travels from the village of Ford, Shropshire to Lake Vyrnwy. The community, Llandrinio and ...
(1769-1775) and
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
(1781) He was one of the foundation members of the Royal Academy in 1768, Samuel Wale, the academy's first professor of perspective had at one time been his assistant.Hodgson and Eaton 1905, p.65 An anonymous publication of 1742 entitled ''The Art of Architecture: A Poem In Imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry'' has been generally attributed to Gwynn. He died in Shrewsbury in 1786.


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John Gwynn (1713–1786), Architect
portraits in the National Portrait Gallery, London {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwynn, John 1713 births 1786 deaths Architects from Shrewsbury British bridge engineers 18th-century English architects Royal Academicians English civil engineers