John Gibson (architect)

For others with the same name, see John Gibson (disambiguation)

St Margaret's Church, Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire

The huge monument to John Gibson in Kensal Green Cemetery

John Gibson (2 June 1817 – 23 December 1892) was an English architect born at Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire.^[1]

Life

Gibson was an assistant to Sir Charles Barry and assisted him in the drawings of the Houses of Parliament.^[2]

Gibson was a prominent bank architect at a time when joint-stock banking was an innovation. His 1849 National Bank of Scotland branch in Glasgow led to perhaps his best-known work, the former National Provincial Bank in Bishopsgate, London, designed in 1862.^[3] It was listed Grade I in 1950^[4] and now known as Gibson Hall.

Gibson is responsible for several churches in and around North Wales, but perhaps his most notable church is St. Margaret's in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, more popularly known as the Marble Church, Bodelwyddan, consecrated in 1860. The church is a prominent landmark in the lower Vale of Clwyd and is visible for many miles. It lies just off the A55 trunk road.^[5]

In 1890 Gibson was awarded the Royal Gold Medal for services to architecture.^[6]

Gibson died of pneumonia on 23 December 1892, at his residence, 13 Great Queen Street, Westminster, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery on 28 December.^[7]

References

1. "Campaign to save St Mary's". Evening Leader. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
2. "Gibson's Biography at glasgowsculpture.com".
3. Gibson Hall history
4. English Heritage
5. "Local History". 2008 International Sheepdog Trials. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
6. "John Gibson". Emporis.com. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
7.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Waterhouse, Paul (1901). "Gibson, John (1817-1892)". In Sidney Lee. Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co.