1987/01/01 by Michael Symes · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Engineering · Mathematics · #Historical Art and Culture Studies #Regret #Elevation (ballistics) #Art history #Art #History #Engineering #Mathematics
paper · doi:10.1080/01445170.1987.10412457
openalex publication_date 1987/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
John Donowell (fl. 1750–1786) has suffered from a bad press. Not much is known about this architectural draughts man whose chief claim to fame is his involvement with the house built for Sir Francis Dashwood at West Wycombe. Here he remodelled what is a splendid composite neo-classical mansion, but was dismissed in 1764 for not coming up to expectations: his elevation was ‘but mean and poor’ according to Redgrave.1 He drew various designs for various houses and may have been responsible for repairs to Hatfield House in the 1770s. An agent of Dashwood said of him with regret, ‘I believe the Man is honest & does to the best of his Abilities, but these I am afraid from the experience I have had of him are not very extensive’.2