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English architect From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Foulston (1772 – 30 December 1841) was an English architect who was a pupil of Thomas Hardwick and set up a practice in London in 1796.[1] In 1810 he won a competition to design the Royal Hotel and Theatre group of buildings in Plymouth, Devon,[2] and after relocating he remained Plymouth's leading architect for twenty-five years.[1]
John Foulston | |
|---|---|
 An 1820s print of Foulston's town hall, column and library in Devonport | |
| Born | 1772 |
| Died | 30 December 1841 (aged 68–69) Plymouth, England |
| Occupation | Architect |
At the time, Plymouth was a prosperous port town, separated along the coast of Plymouth Sound from the neighbouring towns of East Stonehouse and Devonport; collectively known as the Three Towns. Foulston was responsible for the creation of Union Street from the Frankfort Gate which was built across marshland to unite the three towns.[1]
Most of Foulston's work was in the Greek Revival style, but his best known project was the creation of a group of buildings in Ker Street, Devonport in 1821–24.[1] This eclectic group consisted of a Greek Doric town hall and commemorative column; a terrace of houses in Roman Corinthian style and two houses in Greek Ionic; a "Hindoo" nonconformist chapel and an "Egyptian" library. Of these, all but the chapel and the houses survive,[3] and are Grade I listed.[4][5][6]
Foulston's Royal Hotel, Theatre and Assembly Rooms were built between 1811 and 1818.[1] The theatre was notable for being one of the first buildings in Britain to use cast and wrought iron for parts of its main structure; it was demolished just before World War II to make way for a cinema.[2]
Among his other works in Plymouth were The Plymouth Athenaeum, home of the Plymouth Institution of which Foulston was a member.[7] The Athenaeum (1818–19) was bombed during World War II in 1941 and later demolished.[8] Belmont House (c.1825),[9] The Proprietary Library (1812, destroyed by bombing, 1941),[10] The Royal Union Baths (1828, demolished 1849 to make way for Millbay railway station),[10] and St. Catherine's Church (1823, demolished 1958).[8] He also designed many stucco-faced terraces and suburban villas, some of which survive as listed buildings.[11]
In 1818 he designed the asterisk-shaped Cornwall County Asylum at Bodmin, later known as St Lawrence's Hospital, and now a Grade II* listed apartment building.[12]
In Torquay he built the ballroom (1830, demolished), and in Tavistock he restored the medieval abbey gatehouse in Gothic style.[1] Foulston remodelled Warleigh House in Bickleigh in the Gothic style in the 1830s.[13]
Not long before he retired he took into his partnership the architect George Wightwick who succeeded to his practice. After his retirement, Foulston created a set of watercolour drawings of some of his buildings, which are now in the City Art Gallery. He became a fellow of the Institute of British Architects in 1838,[1] and in the same year published "The Public Buildings of the West of England",[2] a book that included plans and drawings of many of his buildings.[15]
In his later years he created an elaborate water garden at his home (Athenian Cottage in the suburb of Mutley[2]), and he was wont to drive round the streets of the town in a gig disguised as a Roman war chariot. He died at his home and is buried in St Andrew's new cemetery in Plymouth.[1]
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