John Johnson (1807 – 28 December 1878) was an English architect who specialised in religious buildings and churches in the

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

. He was regularly employed by the civil engineer Sir John Kelk to design the homes and public buildings Kelk funded. Johnson is best known for his collaboration with Alfred Meeson on designs for

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

in north London; his designs for the Church of St Edward the Confessor in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

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 ...

; and for the

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

St Mary's Church in Tidworth,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, which was completed the year he died. One of Johnson's churches – St Luke's Church, Euston Road – was bought by

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

and dismantled to make way for

St Pancras railway station St Pancras railway station (), officially known since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a major central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is the terminus for Eurostar services from Belgium, F ...

. It was re-erected by Johnson in

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

where it became Wanstead United Reformed Church. Johnson's participation in the work gave him the distinction of becoming one of a small number of architects to have undertaken such a move and subsequent reconstruction.

Career

Churches

St Edward the Confessor Church Romford - geograph

Johnson was a prolific designer of religious buildings and churches. In 1849 he was instructed to design the Church of St Edward the Confessor in

, and returned in 1864 to complete his second church in the town, St Andrew's, in what is in now the Waterloo Estate. In 1853 he took on the rebuilding of the parish church of All Saints in Beyton, Suffolk, which retained the medieval core and tower. Johnson created the original designs for St Luke's Church, Euston Road, between 1856 and 1861. In 1866 it was dismantled and re-designed by Johnson, and re-erected as a Congregational church in

. The church was relocated because of the purchase of land by the Midland Railway, which obtained an Act of Parliament in 1863 to extend its line to London and build a new terminus, (which became

) on the land occupied by Johnson's church. It was described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as "one of few examples of churches which have been moved and substantially reconstructed to their original form, and by the original architect". Other religious buildings followed, including the Old Vicarage in

Oakley Square Oakley Square is a crescent-shaped garden square in Somers Town in Central London, close to Mornington Crescent and Camden Town. It is located in the London Borough of Camden and runs roughly northeastwards from Eversholt Street meeting with ...

, Camden, in 1861; the Unitarian Chapel,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

, in 1862; and St Andrews Church in

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

in 1875. One of his final churches was St Mary's Church in Tidworth,

, which was completed in the year in which Johnson died. It is his only

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Public and private buildings

Johnson was closely associated with the civil engineer Sir John Kelk (1816–1886) who instructed Johnson to complete the

Army and Navy Club The Army and Navy Club, commonly known as The Rag, is a private members' club in London that was founded in 1837 for officers of the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines.St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian architecture, Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was ...

, London; Kelk's personal residence at 3

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

, London; and St Mary's Church, which was built on Kelk's estate in Tidworth, Wiltshire. Kelk and Johnson worked together in 1862 as part of the Kensington Exhibition, and again on the construction of

, which Johnson co-designed with Alfred Meeson (1808–1885). The palace burnt down in 1873 and Johnson and Meeson designed the new building which exists to this day. Kelk personally funded the project and used the contractors Charles and Thomas Lucas to construct the property.

Personal life

Little is recorded of Johnson's private life; he enjoyed fishing, and was for ten years on the committee of the Thames Angling Preservation Society.John Johnson (1807–1878).
Jacqueline Banerjee, The Victorian Web, 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2018. On 1 July 1865, his only child, John George, a second assistant engineer aboard HMS ''Weazel'', died aged 28 through drowning whilst the boat was docked in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Death and legacy

Johnson died at the age of 71 on 28 December 1878 at his home, 14 Buckingham Street, near the Strand, London. Probate was granted to his executors, Lewis Edward Younghusband of 91 Highbury New Park, Middlesex, the sculptor Edward Bowring Stephens of 110 Buckingham Palace Road, Middlesex, and Alfred Godwin of 3 King's Bench Walk, Temple.1879 Probate Calendar, p. 129.
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References

External links

The Victorian Web page on John Johnson.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, John (1807-1878) 1807 births 1878 deaths 19th-century English architects English ecclesiastical architects English surveyors Gothic Revival architects *