John Foulston
An 1820s print of Foulston's town hall, column and library in Devonport
Born	1772 (1772)
Died	30 December 1841(1841-12-30) (aged 68–69) Plymouth, England
Occupation	Architect

John Foulston (1772 – 30 December 1841) was an English architect who was a pupil of Thomas Hardwick and set up a practice in London in 1796.^[1] In 1810 he won a competition to design the Royal Hotel and Theatre group of buildings in Plymouth, Devon,^[2] and after relocating he remained Plymouth's leading architect for twenty-five years.^[1]

Urban Planning of Plymouth

At the time, Plymouth was a prosperous port town, separated along the coast of Plymouth Sound from the neighbouring towns of East Stonehouse and Devonport; collectively known as the Three Towns. Foulston was responsible for the creation of Union Street from the Frankfort Gate which was built across marshland to unite the three towns.^[1]

Ker Street, Devonport

Most of Foulston's work was in the Greek Revival style, but his best known project was the creation of a group of buildings in Ker Street, Devonport in 1821–24.^[1] This eclectic group consisted of a Greek Doric town hall and commemorative column; a terrace of houses in Roman Corinthian style and two houses in Greek Ionic; a "Hindoo" nonconformist chapel and an "Egyptian" library. Of these, all but the chapel and the houses survive,^[3] and are Grade I listed.^[4][5][6]

The Royal Hotel, Theatre and Assembly Rooms

Foulston's Royal Hotel, Theatre and Assembly Rooms were built between 1811 and 1818.^[1] The theatre was notable for being one of the first buildings in Britain to use cast and wrought iron for parts of its main structure; it was demolished just before World War II to make way for a cinema.^[2]

Other works

Among his other works in Plymouth were The Plymouth Athenaeum, home of the Plymouth Institution of which Foulston was a member.^[7] The Athenaeum (1818–19) was bombed during World War II in 1941 and later demolished.^[8] Belmont House (c.1825),^[9] The Proprietary Library (1812, destroyed by bombing, 1941),^[10] The Royal Union Baths (1828, demolished 1849 to make way for Millbay railway station),^[10] and St. Catherine's Church (1823, demolished 1958).^[8] He also designed many stucco-faced terraces and suburban villas, some of which survive as listed buildings.^[11]

In 1818 he designed the asterisk-shaped Cornwall County Asylum at Bodmin, later known as St Lawrence's Hospital, and now a Grade II* listed apartment building.^[12]

In Torquay he built the ballroom (1830, demolished), and in Tavistock he restored the medieval abbey gatehouse in Gothic style.^[1] Foulston remodelled Warleigh House in Bickleigh in the Gothic style in the 1830s.^[13]

Later life and career

Not long before he retired he took into his partnership the architect George Wightwick who succeeded to his practice. After his retirement, Foulston created a set of watercolour drawings of some of his buildings, which are now in the City Art Gallery. He became a fellow of the Institute of British Architects in 1838,^[1] and in the same year published "The Public Buildings of the West of England",^[2] a book that included plans and drawings of many of his buildings.^[15]

In his later years he created an elaborate water garden at his home (Athenian Cottage in the suburb of Mutley^[2]), and he was wont to drive round the streets of the town in a gig disguised as a Roman war chariot. He died at his home and is buried in St Andrew's new cemetery in Plymouth.^[1]

References