Thomas Allason (1790–1852) 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 ...

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

and

landscaper Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # organism, Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with ...

, noted in particular for his work at

Connaught Square Connaught Square in London, England, was the first garden square, square of terraced house, city houses to be built in Bayswater. It is named after a royal, the Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, Earl of Connaught who ...

and the Ladbroke Estate in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

Early life

Allason was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, in 1790. He studied architecture under William Atkinson (1774/5–1839), and won the silver medal of the Royal Academy School in 1809.page at British History Online
Retrieved 17 January 2010. In 1814 Allason visited

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He claimed to have been the first to spot

entasis In architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes, or increasing strength. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that diminish in a very gentle curve, rather than in a straig ...

on the shafts of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

columns, although

Charles Robert Cockerell Charles Robert Cockerell (27 April 1788 – 17 September 1863) was an England, English architect, archaeologist, and writer. He studied architecture under Robert Smirke (architect), Robert Smirke. He went on an extended Grand Tour lasting sev ...

(1788–1863) and

Carl Haller von Hallerstein Johann Carl Christoph Wilhelm Joachim Haller von Hallerstein (10 June 1774, Burg Hilpoltstein, Hiltpoltstein, Principality of Bayreuth – 5 November 1817, Ampelakia, Thessaly, Ottoman Greece) was a German architect, archaeologist and art hi ...

(1774–1817), whom Allason had met while in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, had also observed this.Thomas Allason at answers.com
Retrieved 17 January 2010. Allason was a skilled draughtsman and in 1819 he published a series of engravings entitled ''Picturesque Views of the Antiquities of Pola'' in

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

. The plates themselves were engraved by WB. Cooke, George Cooke, Henry Moses, and Cosmo Armstrong. The book was published by John Murray in 1819.

Architecture

Few of Allason's buildings have survived into the modern era. Perhaps his most enduring legacy is his work on

, and on the Ladbroke Estate in

. In 1821

James Weller Ladbroke James Weller Ladbroke (died 16 March 1847) was a nineteenth-century landowner and the principal developer of the Ladbroke Estate, a substantial parcel of land in Notting Hill, London, England. Many streets in Notting Hill still bear the Ladbroke n ...

inherited his family's then largely rural estate on the western edges of London, and soon set about planning its development. Ladbroke left the actual business of developing his land to the firm of

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

solicitors, Smith, Bayley (known as Bayley and Janson after 1836), who worked with Allason to develop the property. Allason's first task was to prepare a plan for the layout of the main portion of the estate, which was completed by 1823. The plan marks the genesis of his most enduring idea - the creation of large private communal gardens enclosed by terraces and/or crescents of houses. Allason's 1823 design was evidently inspired by the work of John Nash (1752-1835) at

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, and his vision was an ambitious one, consisting of a spectacular estate, focused on a large central circus with radiating streets built around central "paddocks" or garden squares. Allason's purpose was to combine the bucolic pleasures of the countryside with the urban amenities of the city. However, the financial crisis of 1825 forced his plans to be greatly scaled down, and this original bold vision would never be fulfilled. Nonetheless, eventually around fifteen of these communal garden squares would be built, and they continue to contribute to the unique character of

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

to this day. Allason's own house Linden Lodge in Linden Gardens (now demolished) was illustrated in John Claudius Loudon's ''Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture'' (1846), and he designed a studio for the artist

William Mulready William Mulready (1 April 1786 – 7 July 1863) was an Irish genre painter living in London. He is best known for his romanticising depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the ...

(1786–1863) at Linden Grove,

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, in 1827. Among his other architectural works was the Alliance Fire Office, Bartholomew Lane,

, demolished in 1841. He also oversaw the development of the Pitt Estate,

, from 1844, designed

Pyrgo Park Pyrgo Park is a park at Havering-atte-Bower in the London Borough of Havering, in List of sub regions used in the London Plan, North East London, England. It is the site of the former Pirgo Palace, built before 1540 and demolished by 1814; and o ...

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, (built in 1851, and demolished by the local council in 1940), and was involved in the d'Este Estate,

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

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 ...

. His son, Thomas George Dickson Allason (d. 1868), was also an architect, and lived at 1 Connaught Square. Another son, Alfred, was grandfather of the Conservative politician James Allason.Burke's Landed Gentry, eighteenth edition, vol. I, ed. Peter Townend, 1965, Burke's Peerage Ltd, p. 9

Notes

References

* Thomas Allason, ''Picturesque Views Of The Antiquities Of Pola'', John Murray, 1819. ASIN: B002CZ3HHY * Barbara Denny, ''Notting Hill and Holland Park Past'', Historical Publications, 1993. * Derry Moore, ''Notting Hill'', Frances Lincoln Ltd, 2007. * Robert Gray, ''A History of London'', Hutchinson, 1978.

External links

Thomas Allason at answers.com
Retrieved 16 January 2010.

Retrieved 16 January 2010.
Pyrgo Park at architecture.com
Retrieved 16 January 2010.
''The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review'', Volume 221, p. 526 (1852).
Retrieved 16 January 2010.

Retrieved September 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Allason, Thomas History of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 19th-century English architects 1790 births 1852 deaths Artists from London Architects from London