William Atkinson (architect) - Architectural Career

Architectural Career

Atkinson's career as an independent architect began about 1800. Between 1804 and 1834 some twelve country houses were built or remodelled to his designs in the Gothic or castle style. They included Chequers, Buckinghamshire (1823), and Lismore Castle, Co. Waterford, Ireland. Of four houses in Scotland, as well as his Gothic reconstruction (1803–12) of Scone Palace, Abbotsford (1816–23) for Sir Walter Scott remains notable, despite contributions to his designs from the architect Edward Blore and others (including Scott himself).

Atkinson seems never to have executed entire classical buildings, but before 1825 he carried out several additions or alterations to country houses in this style. They include Bretton Hall (1807) and Broughton Hall (1809–11), both in West Yorkshire, Gorhambury, Hertfordshire (1816–17), and Hylands, Essex (1819–25). Atkinson also worked on seven churches, including Durham Cathedral, and All Saints', Newton Heath (1814–16), the only one wholly rebuilt to his designs.He made minor modifications to a handful of public buildings, all in the London, including the Ordnance office in Pall Mall (demolished), the Tower of London, and Woolwich Arsenal. His work on London town houses included the addition of the Flemish picture gallery (1819–20) to Thomas Hope's house in Duchess Street, Portland Place, to the designs of Hope, for whom Atkinson had recently remodelled his country seat, Deepdene, in Surrey.