William Stark (25 May 1770 – 9 October 1813) was an influential Scottish architect and town planner. He suffered from poor health and died relatively young, but his proposals for the development of Edinburgh's Eastern, or Third, New Town were faithfully carried on by his pupil

William Henry Playfair William Henry Playfair FRSE (15 July 1790 – 19 March 1857) was a prominent Scottish architect in the 19th century, who designed the Eastern, or Third, New Town and many of Edinburgh's neoclassical landmarks. Life Playfair was born on 15 ...

, who later designed many of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

's neoclassical landmarks. Few of Stark's buildings survive, but his interiors at the Signet Library building, finished in time for the visit to Edinburgh of

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

in 1822, remain amongst Edinburgh's finest architectural work.

Life and reputation

William Stark was born in Dunfermline, the son of Mark Stark, a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

merchant and millowner, and grandson of the Rev Robert Stark of Torryburn. Stark’s older sister Sarah married the Glasgow architect John Craig in 1787 and it is possible that the young Stark started his career in his office. In 1798 Stark visited St Petersburg, possibly in connection with the neoclassical Scottish architect Charles Cameron, who worked at the court of Catherine II of Russia. Stark’s career began in Glasgow around 1802, but he moved to Edinburgh for the sake of his health about 1807. He died at his home in Drumsheugh, Edinburgh, on 9 October 1813 and was buried at Greyfriars Churchyard.

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

, who employed Stark at Abbotsford around 1811–13, described him as having ‘genius’ and said that ''"he must rise very high in his profession if the bad health from which he suffers does not keep him down"''. After his death, Scott said ''"more genius has died than is left behind among the collected universality of Scottish architects"''. Lord Cockburn described Stark as ''"the best modern architect that Scotland has produced. ''

The Scots Magazine ''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...

'', in which his plan for the Third New Town was published in 1815, reported that ''"his reputation, deservedly high in Scotland, was spreading rapidly in England at the time of his death"''.

Designer of lunatic asylums

Stark had a special interest in the design and organisation of lunatic asylums, based on the medical opinion of his day. His ''Remarks on the Construction of Public Hospitals for the Cure of Mental Derangement'' was published in 1807. He designed the Glasgow Lunatic Asylum in 1810, in which patients were segregated by sex, social background and mental condition, according to his principles. Opened in 1814, this was of the earliest asylums to do this. He was also responsible for the Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum built in 1812 and the Gloucester Lunatic Asylum.

Town planning

Stark was also interested in town planning. His ''Report to the Lord Provost, Magistrates and Council of Edinburgh on the Plans for Laying out the Grounds for Buildings between Edinburgh and Leith'' was published posthumously in 1814. It was also published in the ''Scots Magazine'' in 1815. This short essay emphasised building the Edinburgh townscape with picturesque variety and careful attention to contours, using the benefits of oblique views and the value of trees, rather than imposing the geometry and symmetry exemplified by James Craig's First New Town. Stark wrote, ''"It seems to be admitted to have been a prejudice, that trees and town buildings are incongruous objects. They must surely be admitted to assimilate well together, since our best landscape painters, Claude and the Poussins, never tired to painting them, nor the world of admiring what they painted. From the practice of these great masters, who we must regard as unerring authorities, of constantly combining trees and architecture, it must be inferred to have been their opinion that there could be no beauty where either of these objects was wanting."'' Stark's principles were followed by his pupil William Henry Playfair, who was able to realise many of Stark's ideas in his extensive work in Edinburgh in the first half of the 19th century.

Family

Stark married Catherine Thomson, daughter of Robert Thomson of Edinburgh, and sister of the musical scholar George Thomson who worked with

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

. The couple had a daughter in 1806, also named Catherine.

Works

Buildings and designs

* 1802, 1805

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbisho ...

: alterations to east end and refitting Inner High Church * 1804

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

* 1807

St George's Tron Church The St George's Tron Church, in Glasgow, Scotland, is a Church of Scotland church in the city centre, located in Nelson Mandela Place, previously known as St George's Place, fronting Buchanan Street at West George Street, along from Queen Stre ...

, Glasgow * 1808

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reforma ...

, rebuilding southwest tower * 1809 Grange Hall,

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There a ...

Morayshire Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It ...

* 1809 Saline Parish Church,

Saline, Fife Saline is a village and parish in Fife, Scotland, situated to the north-west of Dunfermline. It lies in an elevated position on the western slopes of the Cleish Hills. At the 2001 Census the population was 1188, a decline from the 1235 recor ...

* 1810 Glasgow Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1814 * 1812 Dundee Royal Lunatic Asylum, designed in an H-shaped block with single storey wings overlooking gardens William Stark – Dunfermline’s ‘Genius’ Architect, Jean Barclay, Dunfermline Historical Society
/ref> * 1812 Signet Library, Edinburgh, design of Signet Library and Upper Signet Library (formerly the Advocates Library) * 1812 Bowhill House, Selkirk, design of central block (continued by William Atkinson) * pre-1813 Designs for the City Observatory and Playfair Monument, on Calton Hill, Edinburgh later redesigned by William Henry Playfair * 1813 Gloucester Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1823

Writings

*Stark, W. (1807). ''Remarks on the Construction of Public Hospitals for the Cure of Mental Derangement.'' Glasgow, 1807. 2nd edn. (1810). James Hedderwick and Co. for the committee: Glasgow. *Stark, W. (1814). ''Report to the Right Honourable the Lord Provost, Magistrates, and Council of the City of Edinburgh, and the Governors of George Heriot's Hospital ... On the Plans for Laying out the Grounds for Buildings between Edinburgh and Leith.'' Edinburgh: Printed by A. Smellie. Republished as 'Report on the Plans for Laying out the Grounds for Buildings between Edinburgh and Leith by the Late William Stark, Esq. Architect' with a 'Postscript by a Fried, Mr Craig, Architect, Glasgow', ''The Scots Magazine'', Vol LXXVII, August 1815.

References

External links

William Stark biography at Scottish Architects websiteWilliam Stark – Dunfermline’s ‘Genius’ Architect, Dunfermline Historical SocietyBiography of William Stark by Gary Nisbet at Glasgow Sculpture website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, William (architect) Scottish architects 1770 births 1813 deaths