John Dobson (architect) - Eldon Square

Eldon Square

In 1824 Dobson was commissioned by Richard Grainger to produce designs for Eldon Square. The design was for three terraces facing a central square, each terrace being of two and a half storeys. The east and west terraces consisted of 27 bays of windows, whilst the north terrace had 39 bays. The first floors had continuous cast-iron balconies with Grecian honeysuckle decoration. Beyond this and the giant Doric pilasters at the end of each terrace there was no other decoration so that the whole effect was very simple and clean. The terraces were faced with finely cut ashlar, which was a marked improvement on the stucco used extensively in London architecture of the time. It is a great pity that this magnificent work was destroyed in the 1960s in the name of progress.