John Johnson (22 April 1732 – 17 August 1814) was an 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

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

to the county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He is best known for designing the

Shire Hall, Chelmsford The Shire Hall is a municipal facility in Tindal Square in Chelmsford, Essex. It is a Grade II* listed building. History The current building was commissioned to replace an ageing 16th century sessions house at the north end of the High Street ...

Life

Johnson was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He moved to London before his thirtieth birthday and in the late 1760s was engaged by William Berners in speculative building of Berners' estate in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

. For most of the rest of his life he lived in one of the houses that he had built in Berners Street. In 1782 he succeeded William Hillyer as Surveyor to the County of Essex, a position that he held for thirty years, retiring at the age of 80. In 1785 he became a partner with Sir Herbert Mackworth and others in Dorsett and Co, a bank in

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

, but Mackworth left before 1792, the bank failed in 1797 and was wound up in 1803. After this, Johnson moved from Berners Street to

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, and on his retirement in 1812 returned to Leicester, where he died. He was buried in St Martin's Church (now

Leicester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, Leicester, commonly known as Leicester Cathedral, is a Church of England cathedral in Leicester, England, and the seat of the Bishop of Leicester. One of the city centre's five surviving medieval ch ...

) where he is commemorated on the base of a monument by John Bacon, originally erected in 1786 as a memorial to his parents.

Works

Among Johnson's surviving works are:

Public buildings

* The

Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...

's clubhouse, Newmarket (1771–2) * The

(1789–91) * The City Rooms, Leicester (1799–1800) * Ingrams Close,

Felsted School Felsted School is a co-educational independent school, independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school, situated in Felsted in Essex, England. It is in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, and was founded i ...

(1799–1802) *

Chelmsford Cathedral Chelmsford Cathedral, formally titled the Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin, St Peter and St Cedd, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Chelmsford, Essex, England, dedicated to Mary (mother of Jesus), St Mary the Virgi ...

(rebuilt the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, 1801–03) * St Andrew's Church, Hornchurch (rebuilt the south

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

, 1802) * County Hall,

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

(1808–12), which became

Lewes Crown Court Lewes Crown Court is a Crown Court venue in Lewes High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England. It forms part of the Lewes Combined Court Centre which it shares with Lewes County Court. The building, which was known as the "County Hall" from an ear ...

and is now Lewes Combined Court Centre

Country houses

Castle Ashby Castle Ashby is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the parish (including Chadstone) was 111. Historically, the village was set u ...

(rebuilt the Great Hall, 1771-4) * Terling Place, Essex (1772-c1780) *

Woolverstone Hall Woolverstone Hall is a large country house, now in use as a school and available at times as a function venue, located south of the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is set in on the banks of the River Orwell. Built in 1776 for William B ...

, Suffolk (1776) * Bradwell Lodge, Essex (c.1785), reconstruction of an earlier house * Benhall Lodge,

Benhall Benhall is a civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Lying to the south of Saxmundham, its population at the 2021 census was 569. The main settlement is Benhall Green, while the hamlet of Benhall St ...

, Suffolk (1790), only a fragment of this building remains as part of 'Old Lodge', as the house was totally rebuilt in the Regency period * Hatfield Place,

Hatfield Peverel Hatfield Peverel is a village and civil parish at the centre of Essex, England. It is located 6 miles (10 km) north-east from Chelmsford, the nearest large city, to which it is connected by road and rail. The parish includes the hamlets ...

, Essex (1791–5)

London houses

* Asia House, no. 63 (originally no. 9), New Cavendish Street,

(c1775-77) * Galloway House, no. 29 Charles Street, (1775-6) with a 63ft. frontage. For John Stewart, 7th Earl of Galloway. Demolished 1912. (British History online)

Other structures

* Stonebridge, Chelmsford

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John (architect) 1732 births 1814 deaths Architects from Leicester 18th-century English architects English surveyors