Read Online Newgate: London's Prototype of Hell by Stephen Halliday - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Stephen Halliday
Ads: Link
‘of less note’.
Janssen had himself later become Lord Mayor (in 1755) and was responsible for the installation of the windmill designed by Stephen Hales that was supposed to alleviate the problem of foul air. Hales 9 had claimed that his device would be capable of ‘drawing like large heavy Lungs, at the rate of seven thousand Tuns of foul Air per Hour, out of several Wards at the same time’, but clearly Janssen was not fully reassured. 10 He obtained a copy of the architectural drawings of the prison at York Castle, whose design he approved, and he recommended that in the new prison at Newgate each felon should have his own cell and a clean shirt once a week. In addition, each cell was to be washed once a week with vinegar and each prisoner should be swabbed down with vinegar before attending court, thus protecting the court officials from contagion. All this information was passed to the City Surveyor, George Dance, with the recommendation that he incorporate the suggestions into the design for a new prison. The design was an improvement on the old one, but the conditions within, as reported by Elizabeth Fry in the following century, were scarcely improved. 11
GEORGE DANCE THE YOUNGER
George Dance the Younger (1741–1825) is often confused with his father, also George Dance (1700–68) who was Clerk of Works to the City of London and designed the Mansion House and the Church of St Leonard’s, Shoreditch. Despite being the youngest of five brothers, George Dance the Younger was chosen to succeed his father in the architectural profession. He attended St Paul’s School and then studied in Italy for six years after working in his father’s practice. His experience in Italy, from which many of his sketches survive, strongly influenced him in his own designs, where classical themes are usually evident though often in combination with other motifs. His first major commission involved rebuilding the Medieval church of All Hallows, London Wall, in 1765 whose design he based on a Roman basilica. In 1768, upon the death of his father, he became architect to the City of London and produced a number of innovative designs to improve the Port of London, including a new double bridge to replace the decaying London Bridge. The two carriageways would have been 100 yards apart and fitted with drawbridges to allow shipping to pass – a precursor of Tower Bridge. Like many of his plans, the latter was not adopted by the Corporation, the design of John Rennie being chosen instead shortly before George Dance died. He also designed the front of the Guildhall, Martin’s Bank on Lombard Street and the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The houses that he designed for aristocrats in Mayfair and St James’s have all been destroyed, but John Wesley’s house opposite Bunhill Fields survives as the only Dance-designed dwelling in London.
Dance advised his pupil, John Soane (1753–1837) on Soane’s design for the Bank of England and designed the Giltspur Street Compter, almost opposite Newgate, which opened as a debtors’ prison in 1819 and was demolished in 1855. In the last thirty years of his life he became rather reclusive and devoted himself more to drawing than architecture. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy, outliving all the other founders, but failed to give any lectures in the seven years (1798–1805) that he was professor of architecture there. Upon his death he left more than 200 portraits in pencil of his contemporaries, many of which were acquired by the Royal Academy, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum.
As architect to the City Corporation, Dance was the clear choice to design the new gaol. His proposal incorporated three courtyards with separate accommodation for debtors, male felons and female felons. It also contained a chapel and an infirmary. The external design was stark, with massive blank walls whose entrances were decorated with shackles. A later
Janssen had himself later become Lord Mayor (in 1755) and was responsible for the installation of the windmill designed by Stephen Hales that was supposed to alleviate the problem of foul air. Hales 9 had claimed that his device would be capable of ‘drawing like large heavy Lungs, at the rate of seven thousand Tuns of foul Air per Hour, out of several Wards at the same time’, but clearly Janssen was not fully reassured. 10 He obtained a copy of the architectural drawings of the prison at York Castle, whose design he approved, and he recommended that in the new prison at Newgate each felon should have his own cell and a clean shirt once a week. In addition, each cell was to be washed once a week with vinegar and each prisoner should be swabbed down with vinegar before attending court, thus protecting the court officials from contagion. All this information was passed to the City Surveyor, George Dance, with the recommendation that he incorporate the suggestions into the design for a new prison. The design was an improvement on the old one, but the conditions within, as reported by Elizabeth Fry in the following century, were scarcely improved. 11
GEORGE DANCE THE YOUNGER
George Dance the Younger (1741–1825) is often confused with his father, also George Dance (1700–68) who was Clerk of Works to the City of London and designed the Mansion House and the Church of St Leonard’s, Shoreditch. Despite being the youngest of five brothers, George Dance the Younger was chosen to succeed his father in the architectural profession. He attended St Paul’s School and then studied in Italy for six years after working in his father’s practice. His experience in Italy, from which many of his sketches survive, strongly influenced him in his own designs, where classical themes are usually evident though often in combination with other motifs. His first major commission involved rebuilding the Medieval church of All Hallows, London Wall, in 1765 whose design he based on a Roman basilica. In 1768, upon the death of his father, he became architect to the City of London and produced a number of innovative designs to improve the Port of London, including a new double bridge to replace the decaying London Bridge. The two carriageways would have been 100 yards apart and fitted with drawbridges to allow shipping to pass – a precursor of Tower Bridge. Like many of his plans, the latter was not adopted by the Corporation, the design of John Rennie being chosen instead shortly before George Dance died. He also designed the front of the Guildhall, Martin’s Bank on Lombard Street and the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The houses that he designed for aristocrats in Mayfair and St James’s have all been destroyed, but John Wesley’s house opposite Bunhill Fields survives as the only Dance-designed dwelling in London.
Dance advised his pupil, John Soane (1753–1837) on Soane’s design for the Bank of England and designed the Giltspur Street Compter, almost opposite Newgate, which opened as a debtors’ prison in 1819 and was demolished in 1855. In the last thirty years of his life he became rather reclusive and devoted himself more to drawing than architecture. He was a founder member of the Royal Academy, outliving all the other founders, but failed to give any lectures in the seven years (1798–1805) that he was professor of architecture there. Upon his death he left more than 200 portraits in pencil of his contemporaries, many of which were acquired by the Royal Academy, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum.
As architect to the City Corporation, Dance was the clear choice to design the new gaol. His proposal incorporated three courtyards with separate accommodation for debtors, male felons and female felons. It also contained a chapel and an infirmary. The external design was stark, with massive blank walls whose entrances were decorated with shackles. A later
Similar Books
