Thomas Allason
Encyclopedia
Thomas Allason was an English
architect
, surveyor
and landscaper, noted in particular for his work at Connaught Square
and the Ladbroke Estate
in Kensington
.
, England
in 1790. He studied architecture under William Atkinson
(1774/5–1839), and won the silver medal of the Royal Academy School in 1809.
In 1814 Allason visited Greece
. He claimed to have been the first to spot entasis
on the shafts of Greek
columns, although Charles Robert Cockerell
(1788-1863) and Carl Haller von Hallerstein
(1774-1817), whom Allason had met while in Athens
, had also observed this.
Allason was a skilled draughtsman and in 1819 he published a series of engravings titled Picturesque Views of the Antiquities of Pola in Istria
. The plates themselves were engraved By WB. Cooke, George Cooke, Henry Moses, and Cosmo Armstrong. The book was published by John Murray in 1819.
, and on the Ladbroke Estate
in Kensington
, London
. In 1821 James Weller Ladbroke
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
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
, 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
to this day.
Allason's own house 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
(1786–1863) at Linden Grove, Bayswater
in 1827.
Among his other architectural works was the Alliance Fire Office, Bartholomew Lane, London
, demolished in 1841. He also oversaw the development of the Pitt Estate, Kensington
from 1844, designed Pyrgo Park
, Romford
, Essex
(built in 1851, and demolished by the local council in 1940), and was involved in the d'Este Estate, Ramsgate
, Kent
.
His son, Thomas George Dickson Allason (d.1868) was also an architect, and lived at 1 Connaught Square
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and landscaper, noted in particular for his work at Connaught Square
Connaught Square
Connaught Square, in the City of Westminster , was the first square of city houses to be built in the Bayswater area. It was named after the Duke of Gloucester , who had a house nearby. The current appearance of the square dates from the 1820s. The square is just north of Hyde Park, and to the west...
and the Ladbroke Estate
Ladbroke Estate
The Ladbroke Estate was a substantial estate of land owned by the Ladbroke family in Notting Hill, London, England, in the early 19th century that was gradually developed and turned into housing during the middle years of the century, as London expanded...
in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
.
Early life
Allason was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1790. He studied architecture under William Atkinson
William Atkinson (architect)
William Atkinson was an English architect best known for his designs for country houses in the Gothic style. He undertook almost fifty commissions, broadly distributed in the north of England and the Scottish lowlands, London and the surrounding counties, with occasional excursions to...
(1774/5–1839), and won the silver medal of the Royal Academy School in 1809.
In 1814 Allason visited Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. He claimed to have been the first to spot entasis
Entasis
In architecture, entasis is the application of a convex curve to a surface for aesthetic purposes. Its best-known use is in certain orders of Classical columns that curve slightly as their diameter is decreased from the bottom upwards. In the Hellenistic period some columns with entasis are...
on the shafts of Greek
Architecture of Ancient Greece
The architecture of Ancient Greece is the architecture produced by the Greek-speaking people whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland and Peloponnesus, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Asia Minor and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest...
columns, although Charles Robert Cockerell
Charles Robert Cockerell
Charles Robert Cockerell was an English architect, archaeologist, and writer.-Life:Charles Robert Cockerell was educated at Westminster School from 1802. From the age of sixteen, he trained in the architectural practice of his father, Samuel Pepys Cockerell...
(1788-1863) and Carl Haller von Hallerstein
Carl Haller von Hallerstein
Johann Carl Christoph Wilhelm Joachim Haller von Hallerstein was a German architect, archaeologist and art historian.-Biography:...
(1774-1817), whom Allason had met while in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, had also observed this.
Allason was a skilled draughtsman and in 1819 he published a series of engravings titled Picturesque Views of the Antiquities of Pola in Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
. 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 Connaught SquareConnaught Square
Connaught Square, in the City of Westminster , was the first square of city houses to be built in the Bayswater area. It was named after the Duke of Gloucester , who had a house nearby. The current appearance of the square dates from the 1820s. The square is just north of Hyde Park, and to the west...
, and on the Ladbroke Estate
Ladbroke Estate
The Ladbroke Estate was a substantial estate of land owned by the Ladbroke family in Notting Hill, London, England, in the early 19th century that was gradually developed and turned into housing during the middle years of the century, as London expanded...
in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1821 James Weller Ladbroke
James Weller Ladbroke
James Weller Ladbroke 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 name today, including Ladbroke Grove and Ladbroke Square, and the former...
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
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
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
John Nash (architect)
John Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
(1752-1835) at Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
, 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
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
to this day.
Allason's own house 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
William Mulready was an Irish genre painter living in London. He is best known for his romanticizing depictions of rural scenes, and for creating Mulready stationery letter sheets, issued at the same time as the Penny Black postage stamp.-Life and family:William Mulready was born in Ennis, County...
(1786–1863) at Linden Grove, Bayswater
Bayswater
Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west . It is a built-up district located 3 miles west-north-west of Charing Cross, bordering the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens and having a population density of...
in 1827.
Among his other architectural works was the Alliance Fire Office, Bartholomew Lane, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, demolished in 1841. He also oversaw the development of the Pitt Estate, Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
from 1844, designed Pyrgo Park
Pyrgo Park
Pyrgo Park is a park at Havering-atte-Bower in the London Borough of Havering, in northeast London, England. It is the site of Pirgo Palace, built before 1540 and demolished by 1814; and of Pyrgo House, built 1841, which lasted less than a century...
, Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(built in 1851, and demolished by the local council in 1940), and was involved in the d'Este Estate, Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
His son, Thomas George Dickson Allason (d.1868) was also an architect, and lived at 1 Connaught Square
External links
- Thomas Allason at answers.com Retrieved Jan 16 2010
- Thomas Allason at Istrianet.org Retrieved Jan 16 2010
- Pyrgo park at architecture.com Retrieved Jan 16 2010
- The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review, Volume 221, p.526 (1852). Retrieved Jan 16 2010