Biography

William Newton (1730-1798) 

Newcastle-born William Newton was a local architect whose practical training and hands-on experience helped win commissions for élite coal-rich clients and thereby transform the northeast’s urban and rural landscapes. Newton built Thornhill Mansion in Sunderland which the actor James Cawdell celebrates in his Miscellaneous Verse. In Newcastle Newton built Charlotte Square, the town’s first modern garden square, a short walk from the town’s fashionable assembly rooms on Pilgrim Street and the new Theatre Royal on Mosley Street.

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