William Hurst

DONCASTER’S ARCHITECTS

This new series of articles will give brief details of the works of various architects who have had connections with the town. It is hoped that these notes may stimulate a greater interest in the buildings which these architects designed, and which have, so far, escaped demolition.

Considerable research has gone into the production of these articles, but the information given cannot hope to be fully comprehensive; comments and additional information will be welcomed. Some architects, born in Doncaster, have moved elsewhere to establish their practices; other architects, born outside the town, have established practices in Doncaster. However, William Hurst, the subject of this first article, was not only born in the town, carried on a successful practice in the town, and was buried at St. George's, but he also had the distinction of being the Mayor of the town in 1829.

William Hurst was born in 1787, his father being the landlord of the Salutation Inn. William Hurst was articled, as a young man, to a respected local architect, William Lindley, of the Pillared Houses, South Parade, William Lindley had been an assistant to John Carr of York for many years before he moved to Doncaster to establish his own practice.

From about 1810 William Lindley was in partnership with John Woodhead. After William Lindley died, in 1818, the practice became known as Woodhead and Hurst and was employed extensively throughout Yorkshire and the neighbouring counties, William Hurst. exhibited two drawings at the Royal Academy in 1811 and in 1815 became a partner in the firm of Lindley and Woodhead. In 1836 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British. Architects and became one of the first, Yorkshiremen to achieve 'this distinction.

An early local work was at Doncaster Racecourse in 1824. The town had been famous for racing for many years and as its popularity increased the accommodation at the Grandstand became inadequate. The Stand was considerably enlarged to the firm’s designs, the principal improvements being the addition of a veranda, further steps on top of the stand, and extensions to the lower balconies. This work may no longer be seen, however, as the majority of the old stands were demolished in 1968 to make way for the present Grandstand and Exhibition Centre,

The visitors of the 1820’s sought not only accommodation at the Racecourse but also facilities for gambling and gaming, Local inns and other public places had previously met the demand, and in 1826 the Betting or Subscription, Rooms were erected in the High Street to designs by William Hurst, The term, subscription is a reference to the membership fee of one guinea. Appealing to the wealthier client, this private venture was enormously successful -there were 200 members at the first race-meeting and extensions to the building became necessary at a later date. Victorian descriptions of the Rooms inform us that in addition to facilities for gambling, members were able to dine, read newspapers and write letters. The interior must have been splendid -'The Annals of Yorkshire (1852)' state that the building was "lighted in the daytime by spacious domes and at night with three brilliant chandeliers of richly-cut 'glass".

The Rooms fell into disrepute however, and finally closed in 1892. Later the building was used for numerous purposes, including a cinema and a shop. Most of it was demolished a few years ago, but the fine portico, with its Ionic columns and pilasters, taken from the plan of a small Greek temple, has been handsomely restored and once again graces the High Street, 'This restoration won a Doncaster Civic Trust award in 1977,

Christ Church, on Thorne Road, was built to the designs of William Hurst 1827-1829. Doncaster was expanding during these years and the building of a new church, near to the fashionable quarter of the town became necessary. The financial generosity of businessman John Jarratt made this possible.

Christ Church was built on the site of an old sandpit, and it is interesting to try to imagine it in its original environment when it was, literally, on the edge of town, the development of Thorne Road being still some years away. An additional contribution by William Hurst was that, as Mayor, he laid the top stone of the spire on 26th June 1829. Since then, the spire has been replaced, and the chancel enlarged, but neither of these changes has spoilt the elegant appearance of the church.

This year Christ Church celebrates its 150th anniversary and a full account of the building - "one of the assets that the town should seek to conserve" - may be found. in the Doncaster Civic Trust Newsletter, March 1979.

At the top of the street William Hurst designed the Wesleyan Chapel (now Priory Methodist Church) in 1832, It was opened on 17th July 1833 and originally accommodated 1,000 persons. In 1839 the Chapel was lengthened by taking in the school room space.

After years of uncertainty over its future, the building will now remain and major alterations to the interior have recently been completed. As a piece of townscape, notably the terminal feature of Priory Place, it is invaluable, and its planned removal would have been most regrettable.

In 1838 John Woodhead died and William Hurst entered into a partnership with a Scotsman, William Lambie Moffatt. This period has less of local interest as much of the practice's work involved churches and public buildings elsewhere. One local problem which did interest William Hurst, however, was the future of Doncaster’s Market.

In his day this area was a rather confused, collection of buildings from various periods, and. the market itself was totally inadequate, resulting in frequent complaints from farmers. The Corporation were aware of the problem and. decided to resolve it. Hurst then wrote to them outlining his scheme a new Corn Market, clearance of most of the area including the Town Hall, construction of other market buildings, and the making of two new roads to open up the area - one from French Gate to St. George Gate, and another from the bottom of Hall Gate to the Old George Hotel in the Market Place,

At length only the Corn Market was constructed in 1843, not to Hurst's design, but to a design by J. Butterfield, the Corporation steward, This proved to be unsuitable and was replaced by the present Corn Exchange in 1870.