Catalogue

Ignatius Bonomi was the eldest son of the Italian architect Joseph Bonomi (1739-1808) who settled in England in 1767, working at first as a draughtsman for Robert and James Adam, before setting up his own influential practice. Ignatius developed a strong and thriving practice in Durham and the north-east. As Surveyor of Bridges for County Durham, in 1824 Ignatius Bonomi designed one of the first railway bridges in Britain, over the River Skerne near Darlington, for the Stockton and Darlington Railway; consequently Ignatius Bonomi is sometimes referred to as the first railway architect.
Ignatius Bonomi's earliest scheme as a young architect, completed when he was only 24 years old, was for the Durham Assize Courts (1811), Elvet, Durham; this sheet possibly being part of Bonomi's preliminary design for the project. The curved wall on this plan, where the watch house is located, was not executed; that part of the site being squared off by the Governor's House/Judges' Lodgings. The executed Assize Courts comprises a long, low building of considerable dignity and is still in use as the Crown Courts.
Given his success with the Assize Courts, Bonomi was called in to complete the new Durham Prison, being built adjacent to the courts on the Elvet site in the city. The prison building project had encountered some difficulties. A new prison was required to replace the jail in Durham's Great North Gate, and Bishop Shute Barrington had pledged £2,000 towards the construction cost. The foundation stone had been laid by Sir Henry Vane Tempest on 31 July 1809 and the first architect, Francis Sandys set to work. His work was criticised as inadequate and, following his dismissal, much of it was demolished and the architect George Moneypenny took over. Unfortunately he died so the young Ignatius Bonomi was appointed to see the new 600 cell prison through to completion. It received its first inmates in 1819 and, like the Assize Courts, is partly still in use.
Ignatius Bonomi undertook much domestic work, on which he employed an eclectic range of styles ranging from Classical to Gothic. His commissions included designs for Durham Castle; Lambton Castle (where he continued his father's work); Burn Hall; and Eggleston Hall. Among Bonomi's commissions for churches was work at Durham Cathedral.