John Dobson (architect)
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John Dobson (1787 – 1865) was a 19th century English architect in the neoclassical tradition. He was born at Chirton, North Shields and at the age of fifteen was placed as a pupil in the office of David Stephenson, the leading builder and architect in Newcastle. After a period in London, Dobson returned to Newcastle and became the most noted architect in the North of England. Churches and houses by him dot the North East - Nunnykirk Hall, Meldon Park, Mitford Hall, Lilburn Tower and Beaufront Castle among them.
John Dobson argued for the role of the architect in building railway stations and his Newcastle Central is regarded by many as the finest in England. According to Gordon Biddle and O.S. Nock in The Railway Heritage of Britain: ‘Undoubtedly it would have been one of the finest 19th century classical buildings in Europe had it been completed... Even so, Newcastle Central today is magnificent inside for its spectacular combination of curves and outside for its sheer size and length.’ The train-shed at Newcastle, the authors state, was the first of the great arched roofs and represented a bold step forward which was copied by others.’ It was the first use of malleable rolled iron ribs - indeed the first large glass and iron vault in England.
It is often said, however, that Dobson’s monument is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne itself, and the best of his collaboration with Richard Grainger can be seen along Grey Street, Market Street and Grainger Street, which date from 1837-40. Of Grey Street in particular, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner remarks: ’Grey Street is no doubt the best of Dobson’s city streets and is one of the best in England.’ It should be remembered that the buildings of Regency Newcastle differ from Nash’s London work by being of finely-cut ashlar, as opposed to the capital’s stucco. Though the Royal Exchange and most of Eldon Square are gone as a result of T. Dan Smith's modernising zeal in the 1960s, much remains. 'Grainger Town' contains some 60 Grade I listed buildings. The Dictionary of National Biography went so far as to state: ‘If the corporation of Newcastle could have accepted [Dobson’s] designs absolutely, their town would now be the finest in the empire.’
Decades before Louis Napoleon gave Haussmann carte blanche in Paris, Newcastle was the first modern city to be comprehensively rebuilt. By contrast with Paris, however, Grainger-Dobson Newcastle retains the characterful mediaeval street-plan.
Dobson's second son Alexander was killed in the Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead in 1854.
