Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of

New Abbey New Abbey ( gd, An Abaid Ùr) is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is south of Dumfries. The summit of the prominent hill Criffel is to the south. History The village has a wealth ...

in the historic county of

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...

, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries area, from the 1820s until his retirement.Colvin, Howard, (1978) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840'', John Murray, pp.697-699 He trained

James Barbour James Barbour (June 10, 1775 – June 7, 1842) was an American slave owner, lawyer, politician and planter. He served as a delegate from Orange County, Virginia in the Virginia General Assembly, and as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. ...

who succeeded him as principal architect in the region.

Career

Newall began his design career in partnership with an

upholsterer Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

and a

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (s ...

in the Dumfries firm of Newall, Hannah and Reid. Nothing is known of any architectural training, although

Howard Colvin Sir Howard Montagu Colvin (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840' ...

suggests that his knowledge of up-to-date styles points to time spent with an architect of standing. Throughout his working life he lived mainly in Dumfries, travelling around

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

and

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

in the course of his work. His papers show him to have made tours of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, as well as parts of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, notably

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 ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and Fonthill. The architects John Edgar Gregan (1813–55), William Reid Corson (1821–86), his brother

George Corson George Corson (1829–1910) was a Scottish architect active in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Background He was born in Dumfries, where he was articled to Walter Newall before moving to Leeds in 1849 to work with his brother William Reid Cor ...

(1829–1910) and James Barbour (1834–1912) all served as apprentices under Newall. Newall died at Craigend, New Abbey, on Christmas Day, 1863. An extensive archive of Newall's sketchbooks, drawings and plans have survived and were purchased by Dumfries Museum in the spring of 1991. Newall is buried in St. Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries.

Works

His built works included villas at Cardoness (1828), for Sir David Maxwell, Baronet, and

Glenlair Glenlair, near the village of Corsock in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, in Dumfries and Galloway, was the home of the physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879). The original structure was designed for Maxwell's father by Walter N ...

Corsock Corsock ( gd, Corsag) is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located north of Castle Douglas, and the same distance east of New Galloway, on the Urr Water. Corsock House i ...

(1830), home of

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and theoretical physicist

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and ligh ...

. In Dumfries, Newall built the

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were ...

(1825), several commercial buildings including offices for his own use on the High Street, and several private houses including Moat Brae (1823), whose gardens, a childhood haunt of author

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, were the inspiration for

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

. Newall remodelled a windmill in neoclassical style to serve as the town observatory, which later became

Dumfries Museum Dumfries Museum and Camera Obscura, located in Dumfries in Dumfries & Galloway, is the largest museum in the region. The museum has extensive collections relating to local and history from the pre-historic era. The museum also has the world's old ...

. He designed St Mary's Church and clergy house at New Abbey built in 1824. He also designed several

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

churches, including those at

Buittle Buittle is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, southwest Scotland, in the traditional county of Kirkcudbrightshire. It lies to the west of the Urr Water, between Dalbeattie and Castle Douglas, and extends from Haugh of ...

(1818–19),

Anwoth Anwoth is a settlement near the Solway Firth in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, southwest Scotland, within a parish of the same name in the Vale of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway. Anwoth lies a mile (1.5 km) to the west of Gatehouse ...

(1826–27), and Kirkpatrick Durham (1849–50). His

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

-style villas were admired by

J. C. Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...

, and Hannahfield (later called Ladyfield West), on the Nith south of Dumfries (the only Category A-listed building by Newall, but which has sadly not 'enjoyed' statutory protection) featured in his ''Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, Villa Architecture'' (1834).

Gallery

image: Walter_Newall_Grave.JPG, Gravestone of Walter Newall, St. Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries image: Southerness_Lighthouse_Newall.jpg, Southerness Lighthouse (1842-3), Solway Firth image: Dumfries Museum Windmill tower at night.jpg, The Observatory (1836), Dumfries image: Anwoth_Church.jpg, Anwoth Church (1826), Kirkcudbrightshire image: Kilquhanity_House.jpg, Kilquhanity House (1820), Kirkpatrick Durham image: Moat_Brae_Dumfries.JPG, Moat Brae (1823), Dumfries image: Assembly_Rooms_Dumfries.JPG, Assembly Rooms (1825), Dumfries image: Albert_Club_Dumfries.JPG, Nith House (1828), Irish Street, Dumfries (now the Albert Club) image: Moffat Baths - now the Town Hall.JPG,

Moffat Town Hall Moffat Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The structure, which is used as community events venue, is a Category B listed building. History In the early 1820s, a group of local busine ...

(originally the Pump House & Baths)

External links

The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust.
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newall, Walter 1780 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects British neoclassical architects Gothic Revival architects People from Dumfries and Galloway