page_title: Thomas Harrison (architect)
section_title: Other works
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas Harrison (architect) / Works / Other works
caption_attribution_description: Northgate, Chester, Cheshire
context_page_description: Thomas Harrison was an English architect and bridge engineer who trained in Rome, where he studied classical architecture. Returning to England, he won the competition in 1782 for the design of Skerton Bridge in Lancaster. After moving to Lancaster he worked on local buildings, received commissions for further bridges, and designed country houses in Scotland. In 1786 Harrison was asked to design new buildings within the grounds of Lancaster and Chester castles, projects that occupied him, together with other works, until 1815. On both sites he created accommodation for prisoners, law courts, and a shire hall, while working on various other public buildings, gentlemen's clubs, churches, houses, and monuments elsewhere. His final major commission was for the design of Grosvenor Bridge in Chester.
  Some of Harrison's designs, including his buildings at Lancaster Castle, were Gothic in style, but most were Neoclassical, particularly those at Chester Castle. He was regarded at the time, and since, as a major influence in the emergence of the Greek Revival in British architecture.
context_section_description: Harrison designed a variety of other structures, one of the most important of which was the replacement of Northgate in Chester, at the suggestion of Earl Grosvenor, mayor of the city in 1807.  The other three gateways, Eastgate, Bridgegate, and Watergate, which carried the footway of the City Walls over the medieval entrances to the city, had been replaced during the 18th century.  The earl wanted the structure to be designed in Gothic style, but Harrison advised that it would be more fitting to the adjacent Roman walls for it to be Neoclassical, and after much debate this was accepted.  The gateway consists of three arches, a wide central arch for vehicles, and two narrower arches for pedestrians, incorporating pairs of monolithic Doric columns.  Harrison then designed Denbighshire Infirmary in North Wales, built between 1810 and 1813, and in about 1820 he made some internal alterations to the Chester Exchange.    In 1820 Harrison was consulted by Magdalen College, Oxford, about improvements to New Building, a block of the college built in 1733, and on other alterations. His plans for New Building were adopted, and the additions were made in 1824 at a cost of £2,600 (equivalent to £220,000 in 2018).
  Harrison was also involved in the building of a series of monuments.  His first commission was to design the Jubilee Tower on the summit of Moel Famau, the highest point of the Clwydian Range in North Wales, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of George III in 1810.  This consisted of an obelisk in two stages on a broad base.  The obelisk collapsed in 1862, and the base was remodelled in 1970 to make a viewing platform. The design of Lord Hill's Column in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, has been attributed to Harrison, but this is incorrect.  The architect was Edward Haycock, but Harrison did make alterations to the design, changing the style of the column, and adding a pedestal with statues of lions; and Harrison did supervise the construction.  Harrison designed The Marquess of Anglesey's Column in Llanfairpwll on Anglesey to commemorate the feats of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey.  This was constructed in 1816–17 at a cost of nearly £2,000 (equivalent to £140,000 in 2018).  His last memorial was a ceremonial gateway, the Admiralty Arch, at Holyhead, also on Anglesey, to commemorate the landing there of George IV in 1821.  It consists of an archway with Doric columns, and cost £600 (equivalent to £41,000 in 2018), and was opened in 1824.
caption: Northgate, Chester
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