John Clayton

John Clayton, (1820–1861) was an English architect and writer.

Life

John Clayton was born in Eardisley, Herefordshire, the son of John Clayton, a land steward, by his wife Susan née Harris. He worked for a time in Hereford, where he had a large architectural practice. The market-gateway entrance with a clock-tower in that town was erected from his design, besides numerous other public buildings and private residences.

He came to London in 1838 at the age of eighteen, entered the Royal Academy Schools, and settled in Elizabeth Street, Eaton Square.

Clayton died in 1861, and at the opening meeting at the Royal Institute in November of that year allusion was made to the merits of his works and his architectural abilities.

Works Clayton is best known for his architectural publications: A Collection of the Ancient Timber Edifices of England, 1846, a most valuable record of those structures, most of which have now disappeared, and The Dimensions, Plans, Elevations, and Sections of the Parochial Churches of Sir Christopher Wren, erected in the cities of London and Westminster, 1848.

In addition to these he published the following sessional papers, contributed by him to the Royal Institute of British Architects: Norman Refectory at Hereford, 1847; Abbey Dore Church and Monastery near Hereford, 1851; Towers and Spires of the City Churches, the works of Sir Christopher Wren, 1852; Bridges and Viaducts of the Present Day, 1856.