St Michael's Hospital (closed) - south elevation - geograph

William John Donthorn (1799 – 18 May 1859) was a notable early 19th-century English

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 one of the founders of what became the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

(RIBA). He was born in

Swaffham Swaffham () is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District and English county of Norfolk. It is situated east of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 6,9 ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and a pupil of Sir

Jeffry Wyattville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatvill ...

. He worked both in the

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 ...

and Classical styles, but is perhaps best known for his severe

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 ...

country houses, most of which have been demolished. In 1834 he was one of several prominent architects to form the Institute of British Architects in London (later RIBA). A large number of his drawings are in the RIBA drawings collection, now housed at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Works

Sessions House, Thorpe Road, Peterborough - geograph

The Monument to Coke of Holkham - geograph

Cromer Hall Cromer Hall is a country house located one mile south of Cromer on Holt Road, in the English county of Norfolk. The present house was built in 1829Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, By Nikolaus Pevsner and Bill Wilson, Cromer entry, page 120. ...

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, Norfolk, 1829 * Heronden Hall,

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

, Kent, 1846 * Elmham Hall, Norfolk (Demolished) * Hillington Hall, Norfolk (Demolished) * Watlington Hall, Norfolk (Demolished) * Pickenham Hall,

South Pickenham South Pickenham is a small village and civil parish in the Breckland district of mid Norfolk, East Anglia, England. It has an area of 758 hectares (2.93 square miles) and it had a population of 101 in 40 households at the 2001 census. This had d ...

, Norfolk (Demolished). Between 1902 and 1905 architect Robert Weir Schultz extensively rebuilt and enlarged the hall, incorporating the previous house, in the Arts and Crafts style. * improvements to

Felbrigg Hall Felbrigg Hall is a 17th-century English country house near the village of that name in Norfolk. Part of a National Trust property, the unaltered 17th-century house is noted for its Jacobean architecture and fine Georgian interior. Outside i ...

, Norfolk * Upton Hall, near Southwell, Nottinghamshire *

Highcliffe Castle Highcliffe Castle, situated on the cliffs at Highcliffe, Dorset, was built between 1831 and 1835 by Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay in a Gothic Revival style near the site of High Cliff House, a Georgian Mansion designed for the 3rd ...

near

Christchurch, Dorset Christchurch () is a town and civil parish in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town had a population of 31,372 in 2021. For the borough the population was 48,368. It adjoins Bournemouth to the west, with the New Forest to the east. Part ...

(from 1830) *

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

s in Ely (1837) and

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland Port of Wisbech, port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bord ...

(1838) (Cambridgeshire),

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, ...

(1848-9) and

Downham Market Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 3 ...

(Norfolk) and

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

and

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...

(Rutland) * Sessions House,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

(completed 1842) * Holy Trinity Church,

Upper Dicker Arlington is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The parish is on the River Cuckmere, and is the location of a medieval priory, a reservoir and a car racetrack. History The area has been settled sinc ...

, East Sussex (1843) * the Leicester Monument at

Holkham Hall Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century English country house, country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation), 1st Earl of Leicester ...

, erected in 1845–1848 in honour of Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester * The Old Rectory, Dummer, near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

, Hampshire (1850)http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-138560-the-old-rectory-dummer (retrieved Oct 2010) * Home Farm,

Marham Marham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximate away from King's Lynn. An RAF station, RAF Marham, is situated nearby at Upper Marham.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 - King's Lynn, Downham M ...

, Norfolk (completed 1860). Gothic house with classical stables, all grade II listed.

References

1799 births 1859 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Norfolk People from Swaffham {{UK-architect-stub