John Dodsley Webster
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John Dodsley Webster FRIBA (1840–1913) 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 ...
who designed more than 15 churches in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
in various
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...
styles, usually working to a tight budget. His work also included hospitals and commercial buildings, small country houses and private houses. All his known work was carried out in the South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire area except for a chapel and school built in
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
.


Biography

Webster was born in Sheffield, the son of John Webster (1806–1870) and Harriet Dodsley (1806–1891). His education consisted of private tutoring from the Reverend Henry Denson Jones, Vicar of
Heeley Heeley was a cluster of small villages which now form a suburb in the south of the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The village has existed at least since 1343, its name deriving from ''Heah Leah'', ''High Lea'' then ''Hely'', mea ...
in the late 1840s and early 1850s before attending
Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...
Grammar School full-time. After deciding upon a career in architecture Webster served his
apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
with the well known Sheffield firm of Samuel Worth who were best known for their work on
Sheffield General Cemetery The General Cemetery in the Sheffield, City of Sheffield, England opened in 1836 and closed for burial in 1978. It was the principal cemetery in Victorian era, Victorian Sheffield with over 87,000 burials. Today it is a listed Landscape (Grade I ...
. He managed the Halifax office of ecclesiastical architects James Mallinson and Thomas Healey, before returning to Sheffield to set up his own architectural practice in January 1865 at 19 St. James Street close to
Sheffield Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when ...
.Lookingatbuildings.org
Gives biographical information.
He was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1873. He went into partnership with his son, John Douglas Webster from 1902. He married Emily Charlotte Cockayne (1848-1921), fourth daughter of the late Thomas Bagshaw Cockayne, on 27 November 1872 in St Andrew's Church, Sharrow and they had the following children: *John Douglas Webster (b. 19 February 1874) (also an architect) *Arthur Guy Webster (b. 1879) *Mary Winifred Webster (b.1880) *Reginald Evelyn Webster (1882–1946) *Kathleen Jackson Webster (b. 1885) *Philip Dodsley Websiter (b. 1887) He died in October 1913 and left an estate valued at £32,076.


Architectural work


Churches

Webster's first church commission was Ranmoor Wesleyan Chapel on Ranmoor Road (demolished in 1963), the 1870s and 1880s were a busy time for ecclesiastical building with much funding coming from the Church Extension Society. Webster designed 15 churches in Sheffield (more than any other architect) and extended many others. His work included St Pauls’, Norton Lees (1877), Trinity Wesleyan Church, London Road (1879), St Bartholomews’, Burgoyne Road (1881), St Anns’, Netherthorpe (1882), St Clements, Newhall,
Attercliffe Attercliffe is an industrial suburb of northeast Sheffield, England on the south bank of the River Don. The suburb falls in the Darnall ward of Sheffield City Council. History The name Attercliffe can be traced back as far as an entry in ...
(1886), St Matthias’,
Stocksbridge Stocksbridge is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish, it is encircled to the north and east by the southern edge of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, although since 1974 it lies within the borders of the City of Sheffield, in ...
(1890), St Bartholomews’, Carbrook (1890), Christ Church,
Gleadless Gleadless () is a suburb and parish A Church Near You.
Parish Map.
within the City ...
(extended 1890 and 1897), St Augustines’, Brocco Bank (1898), St Cuthberts’, Fir Vale (1902),
Attercliffe Chapel Attercliffe Chapel, also known as the Hill Top Chapel, is a Gothic chapel in Attercliffe, now a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The chapel was constructed in 1629, when Attercliffe was a township separate from Sheffield, althou ...
(remodelled 1909), St Oswalds’,
Millhouses Millhouses is a neighbourhood in the City of Sheffield, England. It is located in Ecclesall ward; in the south-western portion of the city on the northwest bank of the River Sheaf. Its origins lie in a small hamlet that grew around the Eccle ...
(1910) and St Timothys’, Slinn Street,
Crookes Crookes is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England, about west of the city centre. It borders Broomhill to the south, Walkley and Upperthorpe to the east and open countryside around the River Rivelin to the north. The population of the ...
(1911). In 1894 Webster was appointed Diocesan Surveyor for the Sheffield area of the
Diocese of York The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The diocese is headed by the ar ...
and this gave him continuous ecclesiastical work until his death. In 1900 he was joined in the practice by his son John Douglas Webster and this saw the practice move to a more modern design of church, as illustrated by St Timothys‘, Crookes which was built in the more fashionable Gothic Perdendicular style''"A Popular History Of Sheffield"'', J. Edward Vickers, Applebaum Ltd, , p. 216 Gives list of churches.Lookingatbuildings.org
Gives some details of churches.


Hospitals

Hospitals and their architecture were of special interest to Webster and it is in this field that he did some of his best work. In 1876 Webster was part of the three-person committee that founded the
Sheffield Children's Hospital The Sheffield Children's Hospital is a healthcare facility for children in Broomhill, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is managed by the Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital first opened on 15 November 1876 ...
. Webster along with the solicitor Henry Vickers and the surgeon Dr William Jackson Cleaver, issued a statement saying it was ''“expedient to found an institution for the relief of poor sick children”''. The Children's Hospital opened on 15 November 1876 in Brightmore House at a rent of £63 per annum.The first children's champions
Gives details of Children‘s Hospital committee.
Webster served on the hospital's management committee for many years overseeing its expansion, when the hospital moved to new buildings on Western Bank in 1902 he acted as architect, completing the building in red brick Tudor style with tower.''"Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield"'', Harman and Minnis, Yale University Press, , p. 248 Gives details of Children‘s Hospital architecture. Webster designed the
Jessop Hospital The Jessop Hospital for Women was a hospital in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. At the time of its closure in 2001, it was managed by the Central Sheffield University Hospitals NHS Trust. __TOC__ History Early history Following a large ...
for women in 1878 in late Gothic style "with some strange detailing", it is a grade II
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 ...
which now house the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
Music Department.''"Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield"'', Harman and Minnis, Yale University Press, , Page 88 Gives details of Jessop Hospital. Webster returned 24 years later and added an Edwardian extension of additional wards (1902). The Grade II listed extension was controversially demolished in 2013, despite vigorous protests by
The Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK charity and amenity society that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. As a statutory consultee, by la ...
and the Hallamshire Historic Buildings Society to make way for “The Diamond” a new £81 million building for the Department of Engineering.BBC News
Gives details of Jessop Edwardian extension and demolition.
Other hospital related buildings by Webster include the Medical School on Leopold Street in 1888. He oversaw extensions to the
Ecclesall Ecclesall Ward—which includes the neighbourhoods of Banner Cross, Bents Green, Carterknowle, Ecclesall, Greystones, Millhouses, and Ringinglow—is one of the 28 electoral wards in the Sheffield district, in the county of South Yorkshire, En ...
workhouse which included a new male ward block (1891) and infirmary (1894), the workhouse would later become
Nether Edge Hospital The Nether Edge Hospital was a health facility on Union Road, in Nether Edge near Sheffield, South Yorkshire. The main building, known as the Kingswood Building, remains a Grade II listed building. History The facility has its origins in the Ec ...
. Webster also carried out extensions to the original
Sheffield Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary was a hospital in Upperthorpe, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. History Founding an infirmary for Sheffield was suggested in an anonymous letter written 1789 and following a public meeting in April 1792, public subscri ...
at Upperthorpe, he added the Outpatients Department in 1884, an innovative octagonal structure now known as the roundhouse, it was influenced by advocates of the circular hospital ward. He also added the Nurses Home (Centenary House) in 1897, both the infirmary buildings are now Grade II listed buildings.


Other work

The early days of the practice in the 1870s saw much work being done designing private houses in the developing, affluent Sheffield suburb of
Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is a suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for the city's s ...
. The best two examples are West Lea (1870) and Ranfall (1871) on Ranmoor Park Road, both are built in a conservative, classical style typical of Sheffield at the time. He also designed a dignified
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...
lodge at 83 Ranmoor Road (1874).Looking at Buildings
Details of private houses
Storth Oaks at 229 Graham Road was built in the late 1860s as a private house in the Swiss-Italian style, it is now a treatment centre for adults with drug and alcohol problems, it is a grade II listed building. Webster carried out extensions to
Totley Hall Totley is a suburb on the extreme southwest of the city of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Derbyshire, Totley was amalgamated into the city of Sheffield in 1933, and is today part of the ...
in 1883 and 1894 which included a billiard room with a 4-light stained glass window. In 1905 Webster was commissioned to design the Boer War Monument to the
York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...
, known as the Transvaal Memorial, it was originally situated in
Sheffield Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when ...
and was moved to
Weston Park Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located north-west of Wolverhampton, and east of Telford, close to the border with Shropshire ...
in 1963. The simple memorial was originally set into a granite wall but is now free standing and consists of a bronze panel listing the names of the dead flanked by soldiers with bowed heads.Public Art Research Archive, Sheffield Hallam University Boar War Memorial
/ref> Webster has very little recorded work in the centre of Sheffield, probably due to the loss of records, however, in addition to the already mentioned Medical School on Leopold Street, examples do exist. He designed the Norfolk Street section of St Pauls Parade to the south of the
Peace Gardens The Peace Gardens are an inner city square in Sheffield, England. The Gardens themselves front onto Sheffield's gothic town hall, not to be confused with Sheffield City Hall (a concert venue), or the Sheffield Old Town Hall at Castle Mar ...
, built between 1898 and 1901 as an extension to the Pinstone Street section, it is finished in warm coloured brick with red sandstone dressing. It has been rebuilt behind the facade and now houses retail and offices. In 1881 he designed 38–40
Fargate Fargate is a pedestrian precinct and shopping area in Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is ...
for the grocer Arthur Davy, it was claimed to be the largest provision shop in the country at the time, it now houses a branch of
WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...
. The Bainbridge building on the corner of Surrey Street and Norfolk Street were designed for the local Member of parliament and businessman Emerson Bainbridge in 1894, it has a prominent corner two-storey
oriel window An oriel window is a form of bay window which protrudes from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, bracket (architecture), brackets, or similar cantilevers, an oriel window generally projects from an ...
over the entrance. The building was rebuilt behind the facade in 1978 and housed a branch of the Halifax Bank for many years, it stands vacant as of 2020.''"Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield"'', Harman and Minnis, Yale University Press, , Gives details of City Centre architecture. Webster's private residence was at Sunbury on Westbourne Road at Broomhill. He died in October 1913 aged 74. File:Bainbridge Building, Surrey St' Sheffield.jpg, The Bainbridge building on Surrey Street, Sheffield File:Centenary House, Former Royal Infirmay Nurses House.jpg, Centenary House at the Royal Infirmary. File:Boar War Mem, Weston Park, Sheffield.jpg, York and Lancaster Regiment Boer War Memorial at Weston Park, Sheffield. File:Sheffield Children's Hospital, Brook Hill 2020.jpg, The Sheffield Children's Hospital on Brook Hill. File:Sheffield University Faculty of Music and The Diamond.jpg, Webster's Victorian part of Jessop Hospital now house the University of Sheffield Faculty of Music. File:St Augustine's, Brocco Bank.jpg, St Augustine's, Brocco Bank. File:Storth Oaks, Graham Road, Fulwood.jpg, Storth Oak on Graham Road, Ranmoor.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, John Dodsley Architects from Yorkshire 1840 births 1913 deaths English ecclesiastical architects Gothic architects Architects from Sheffield Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects