John Wood, the Elder (1704 – 23 May 1754) was an English architect, working mainly in Bath.
In 1740 he surveyed Stonehenge and the Stanton Drew stone circles. He later wrote extensively about Bladud and Neo-Druidism. Because of some of his designs he is also thought to have been involved in the early years of Freemasonry.
His notable work in Bath included: St John's Hospital, Queen Square, Prior Park, The Royal Mineral Water Hospital, the North and South Parades and The Circus. Wood also designed important buildings outside Bath, including the reconstruction of Llandaff Cathedral, Buckland House, The Exchange, Bristol, and Liverpool Town Hall. He has been described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the outstanding architects of the day".
Wood was born in Twerton near Bath, and baptised in St. James's Church (now demolished). He received a good but basic education at King Edward's School.
His father George was a local builder.
During his teenage years and early twenties, Wood worked for Robert Benson, the first Baron Bingley at his estate, Bramham Park, Yorkshire. He then became involved in speculative builds on the Cavendish estate in London.
Through reading, site visits and practical experience Wood developed his unique ideas in order to create an ambitious master plan for his home town. Through his continual self-education, Wood refined his architectural beliefs and by his mid-twenties had combined his passion for Palladianism (a type of classical architecture) with his obsession with Ancient British history, and almost certainly Freemasonry.
Wood set out to restore Bath to what he believed was its former ancient glory as one of the most important and significant cities in England. In 1725 he developed an ambitious plan for his home town, which due to opposition he developed outside the existing city walls. Wood created a distinctive image for the city, one that has greatly contributed to Bath's continuing popularity.
Wood's plans for Bath were hampered by the corporation (council), churchmen, landowners and moneymen. Instead he approached Robert Gay, a barber surgeon from London, and the owner of the Barton Farm estate in the Manor of Walcot, outside the city walls. On these fields Wood established Bath's architectural style, the basic principles of which were copied by all those architects who came after him. Wood created one of the greatest attractions in the world, recognised by UNESCO for embodying a number of outstanding universal values — including the deliberate creation of a beautiful and unified city.
At Queen Square, Wood introduced speculative building to Bath. This meant that whilst Wood leased the land from Robert Gay for £137 per annum, designed the frontages, and divided the ground into the individual building plots, he sub-let to other individual builders or masons. They had two years grace in which to get the walls up and the roof on, after which they had to pay a more substantial rent. As Bath was booming, most plots were reserved before the two years were up, providing the builder with the necessary income to complete the house. Ultimately this meant less work and risk for Wood; in addition he received £305 per annum in rents, leaving him a healthy profit of £168 – the equivalent today (in terms of average earnings) of £306,000.
The planning innovation of the Woods lay in their ability to maintain architectural uniformity across large-scale developments. Often regarded as early pioneers of master-planned residential communities, they sold individual plots of land but legally required buyers to construct buildings according to their prescribed designs. To prevent deviations that could disrupt the overall composition, the Woods issued highly detailed construction drawings and enforced them through legal covenants. These mandates specified elements such as façade proportions and architectural details, ensuring visual cohesion and rhythmic consistency throughout the development and allowing their unified vision to be executed by multiple builders.
Wood is known for designing many of the streets and buildings of Bath, such as St John's Hospital, (1727–28), Queen Square (1728–36), Prior Park (1734–41), The Royal Mineral Water Hospital (1738–42) the North (1740) and South Parades (1743–48), The Circus (1754–68), and other notable houses, many of which are Grade I listed buildings.
In 1716 the architect William Killigrew was commissioned to rebuild the St John's Hospital, which had been founded around 1180, by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin making it among the oldest almshouses in England. Construction continued after 1727 with John Wood, the Elder undertaking the building, as his first work in Bath, when he was aged 23.
Ralph Allen's Town House was commissioned by Ralph Allen who commenced building it in or shortly after 1727. Opinion is divided as to whether John Wood the Elder designed the "Town House", however the ostentatious decoration is not a style he uses elsewhere in Bath. Wood, in his "Essay towards the future of Bath", says — while Mr.Allen was making the Addition to the North Part of his House in Lilliput Alley he new fronted and raised the old Building a full Story higher; it consists of a Basement Story sustaining a double Story under the Crowning; and this is surmounted by an Attick, which created a sixth Rate House, and a Sample for the greatest Magnificence that was ever proposed by me for our City Houses.
Queen Square was Wood's first speculative development. Wood lived in a house on the square. Numbers 21–27 make up the north side, which was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730". The west side (numbers 14 – 18 and 18A, 19 and 20) was designed by John Pinch in 1830 and differs from Wood's original design as the central block is in Neo-Grecian style. 16–18 is now occupied by the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. The south side (numbers 5–13) which was originally left open is now occupied by a hotel.
In 1742, Wood was commissioned to build a home for the mayor of Bath Ralph Allen, on a hill overlooking the city of Bath. This building is Grade I listed and has housed Prior Park College since 1830.
The building for the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases was designed by Wood and built with Bath Stone donated by Ralph Allen. It was later enlarged, firstly in 1793 by the addition of an attic storey and later in 1860 by a second building erected on the west side of the earlier edifice. It is a Grade II listed building. There is a fine pediment, in Bath stone, on 1860 building depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan.
North Parade was part of a wider scheme to build a Royal Forum, including South Parade, Pierrepont and Duke Streets, similar to Queen Square, which was never completed. Wood designed the facade, of Bath Stone, after which a variety of builders completed the work with different interiors and rear elevations.