John Tarring
John Tarring FRIBA (1806–1875) was an English Victorian ecclesiastical architect active in the mid-nineteenth century. Based in London, he designed many Gothic Revival churches for Nonconformist clients. Life Tarring was born at Holbeton, near Plymouth, and worked there as a carpenter or plasterer until moving to London in 1828. He studied at Brown's academy in Wells Street, and obtained a Royal Academy medal for a measured drawing. He became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1845. Tarring worked principally in London. His firm was variously known as "John Tarring, Esq.," "Tarring & Jones," and "J. Tarring & Son." His son Frederick William Tarring (1847–1925) succeeded him in the business. Known as the "Gilbert Scott of the Dissenters", he was the first architect to design a spire for a nonconformist church in London, and is thought to have influenced the Baptists and Congregationalists to begin building churches in the Gothic style. Most of his commissions were nonconformist churches, although he had one remodelling commission of an Anglican chapel. In 1856 he rebuilt George Whitefield's chapel in Tottenham Court Road. The site had recently been bought by the London Congregational Building Society, following the destruction of the existing