Stories from the Pump Room
John Carr of York by Karey Lucas-Hughes

Did you know that John Carr of York, the architect of our magnificent crescent, was the son of a humble stone mason? Carr, the eldest of nine children, was born in the village of Horbury, near Wakefield, in 1723.  

Astonishingly, the future architect never had an apprenticeship or a formal education but read widely and learned through practical experience. Carr learned a great deal about materials and construction, especially stone, while working with his father and  studied for himself the works of Renaissance Italian architects such as Serlio and Palladio, who greatly influenced his Neoclassical style. 

In 1750 he moved to York to set up his own architectural practice independent of his family. The firm he started is still in business today, it’s known as ‘Brierley and Groom’ and it is the longest-running architectural practice in the UK and one of the oldest in the world. 

Carr made a name for himself over a long and distinguished career in which he designed over 250 buildings. His commissions were very varied: he built private homes, civic buildings, hospitals, asylums and bridges. He was one of the most prolific artists of the 18th Century and was in constant demand.  The vast majority of his buildings are in the north of England.  Despite his success he never moved to London because he believed there was enough prosperity in the north to provide him with wealthy patrons and public works. During his lifetime, he was the only provincial member of The London Architects Club. 

John Carr travelled around the north a great deal, often on horseback, probably in all weathers, to meet clients and inspect construction sites. This may have contributed to periods of ill health, possibly arthritis, where he was bed-bound for several weeks, unable to walk. During these times, he was known to ‘take the water cure’ in Buxton. Who knows, he may well have been served water from St. Ann’s Well by the famous local well-woman Martha Norton. Certainly, the Buxton Crescent seems to have had a special place in his heart: why else would the plans feature in his portrait by William Beechey of 1791?  

Carr lived to the grand age of 84, perhaps through imbibing our Crescent water, who can tell?  He even outlived all his siblings and is buried in a church in Horbury that he designed, built and paid for.