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John Dodsley Webster

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Architects, John Dodsley Webster

John Dodsley Webster (1840-1913) was much more typical of the unsung local architect than W. J. Hale. The scope of his work encompassed the whole range open to an architect: churches, public and commercial buildings, villas and small houses, additions and extensions. Capable of working in a variety of different styles at the behest of his clients, it would be unfair to compare his designs with those of the leading London-based architects. Nonetheless, he created well-crafted buildings appropriate to their settings, often on a limited budget. Although he developed no immediately recognizable style of his own, his commercial work displays deft handling of classicalGlossary Term and neo-TudorGlossary Term elements.

Born in Sheffield and educated in Mansfield, he was articled to the leading Sheffield architect, Samuel Worth (best known for his General Cemetery chapel and offices and the Shrewsbury almshouses, Norfolk Road). He then managed the Halifax office of the ecclesiastical architects, Mallinson & Healey before setting up in practice on his own account in Sheffield soon after 1865

Glossary

Classical

A term used for the architecture of Ancient Greece and Rome, revived at the Renaissance and subsequently imitated around the Western world. It uses a range of conventional forms, the roots of which are the orders, or types of column each with its fixed proportions and ornaments (especially Doric, Ionic and Corinthian). Classical buildings tend also to be symmetrical, both externally and on plan. Classical architecture in England began c. 1530 with applied ornamental motifs, followed within a few decades by fully-fledged new buildings.

Tudor

Strictly, the architecture of the English Tudor dynasty (1485-1603), but used more often for late Gothic secular buildings especially of the first half of the 16th century. These use a simplified version of Perpendicular, characterised by straight-headed mullioned windows with arched lights, and by rooflines with steep gables and tall chimneys, often asymmetrically placed.

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