John Plaw
John Plaw (1745–1820) was an architect who was born in London but later emigrated to the Colony of Prince Edward Island in North America. He is known for favouring circular designs in the classical style. There are two known surviving examples of his work in the UK. These are a circular villa built on Belle Isle, Windermere’s largest island, and St Mary on Paddington Green Church, which was designed in the shape of a Greek Cross and constructed between 1788 and 1791.
John Plaw
John Plaw · Public domain
- Name
- John Plaw
- Born
- 1745
- Birthplace
- London, England
- Died
- 1820
- Place of death
- Colony of Prince Edward Island
- Awards
- RSA
- Nationality
- Canada
- Occupation
- architect
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
John Plaw (1745–1820) was an architect who was born in London but later emigrated to the Colony of Prince Edward Island in North America. He is known for favouring circular designs in the classical style. There are two known surviving examples of his work in the UK. These are a circular villa built on Belle Isle, Windermere’s largest island, and St Mary on Paddington Green Church, which was designed in the shape of a Greek Cross and constructed between 1788 and 1791.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
John Plaw (1745–1820) was an architect, of Canadian nationality. The architect was born in London and died in Charlottetown. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for John Plaw. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6253035 · wikipedia · John Plaw
In this article
Biography
Biography
A third property, The Round House in Romford, Essex, constructed between 1792-4, has also been attributed to Plaw.
![Plaw (John) Sketches for Country Houses, Villas and Rural Dwellings, first edition, 42 sepia aquatint plates plans, foxing to plates, old marbled boards, uncut, a little rubbed, rebacked and cornered in calf, spine gilt with floral motifs and red green labels, [Abbey, Life 49], 4to, S.Gosnell for J.Taylor, 1800. ⁂ Plaw had introduced a new style of architectural book with his Rural Architecture...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/John_Plaw_-_30740dd80c.jpg/800px-John_Plaw_-_30740dd80c.jpg)
Plaw (John) Sketches for Country Houses, Villas and Rural Dwellings, first edition, 42 sepia aquatint plates plans, foxing to plates, old marbled boards, uncut, a little rubbed, rebacked and cornered in calf, spine gilt with floral motifs and red green labels, [Abbey, Life 49], 4to, S.Gosnell for J.Taylor, 1800. ⁂ Plaw had introduced a new style of architectural book with his Rural Architecture...
John Plaw
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Plaw • Born — 1745 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 1820 • Place of death — Colony of Prince Edward Island • Awards — RSA • Illustration — St Mary on Paddington Green is a surviving example of Plaw's work
Career
Career
John Plaw began his apprenticeship with a London bricklaying company in 1759. As an apprentice, he received an architectural award from the RSA. From 1775 – a year after completing plans for the villa on Belle Isle – he was exhibiting architectural drawings at the Royal Academy of Arts. In the 1790s Plaw found work in Southampton and the Isle of Wight designing the military barracks which became the offices of the Ordnance Survey as well as nearby housing. In 1807 he and his family emigrated to Prince Edward Island where he submitted proposals for a jail, a courthouse, a market building and a commercial building. The courthouse and market building were completed, however neither still stands today.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1745
John Plaw was born in 1745 at London.
1820
John Plaw died in 1820 at Charlottetown.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
London.
Birth place
Charlottetown.
Death place
Surviving designs in print
John Plaw is largely remembered for three successful pattern books, ‘Rural Architecture; or Designs from the Simple Cottage to the Decorated Villa ’, ‘Ferme Ormee or Rural Improvements’ and ‘Sketches for Country Houses, Villas, and Rural Dwellings’. All three books are still in print today.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “John Plaw”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q6253035: John Plaw
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Gov.pe.ca. Historic Properties Online: John Plaw.
- 2.The Parish of Little Venice.
- 3.Londonopenhouse.org. Open House | Site Details - The Round House. 2010-08-20.
- 4.Rogers, Irene L. Plaw, John. 5.
- 5.Coles, R. J. Southampton's Historic Buildings. City of Southampton Society. 22–23. 1981.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Design
11,558 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- John Peter GandyDesigner
- John PicardDesigner
- John Pinch the elderDesigner
- John Pinch the youngerDesigner
- John PlowmanDesigner
- John Pollard SeddonDesigner
- John Porter ClarkDesigner
- John PoulsonDesigner
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by John Plaw?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.