John Whichcord Sr. (1790–1860) was a British architect who worked in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and designed many public and institutional buildings in the town.

Life

Whichcord, the son of a surveyor, was born in

Devizes Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...

, Wiltshire. He was articled to the Bath architect Charles Harcourt Masters and then worked in the drawing office of the architect of the

London Docks The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London. They were constructed in Wapping, downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million. Traditionally ships had d ...

Daniel Asher Alexander Daniel Asher Alexander (6 May 1768 – 2 March 1846) was an English people, English architect and engineer. Life Daniel Asher Alexander was born in Southwark, London and educated at St Paul's School (London), St Paul's School, London. He wa ...

, who was also engaged on the prison at Maidstone. In 1819 Whichcord took over the post of surveyor of Maidstone gaol, and two years later also became surveyor of Canterbury gaol. In 1825, when the county surveyor of Kent was dismissed, Whichcord was appointed to the post. His works in the county included the Maidstone Union Workhouse (1836), the Kent Fire Offices, the Maidstone Corn Exchange, and the West Kent Infirmary. He was also surveyor to the

Medway Navigation The River Medway in England flows for from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway, Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it shares the latter's estuary. The Medway Navigatio ...

Company, carrying out various works on the river, including tidal locks. The Kent County Lunatic Asylum is described as his ''Magnum Opus'' by John Newman (Buildings of England Series, 1969). He designed the new churches of St John, Blindley Heath in Surrey, and Holy Trinity, Maidstone, St Stephen,

Tovil Tovil is a civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, in Kent in the South East of England. It is a mixture of residential and industrial zoning, with an increase in commercial usage towards the centre of Maidstone, and more arable use on the ou ...

, Holy Trinity,

East Peckham East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring. History The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:- :'' The Archbishop himse ...

, St Mary the Virgin, Platt, and Christ Church at

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, near Faversham, all in Kent. He also produced plans for enlargement or reseating of several existing ones, including St Peter's Church, Maidstone. He was the Mayor of Maidstone in 1856-1857 His son John Whichcord Jr. (1823–1885) was a notable architect..

References

External links

Maidstone Union Workhouse on the Workhouse website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whichcord, John, Snr 1790 births 1860 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Kent Architects from Wiltshire People from Devizes People from Maidstone