John Carr (1723–1807) was a prolific English architect. He was born in Horbury, near Wakefield, England, the eldest of nine children and the son of a master mason, under whom he trained. He started an independent career in 1748 and continued until shortly before his death. John Carr was Lord Mayor of York in 1770 and 1785. Towards the end of his life Carr purchased an estate at Askham Richard, near York, to which he retired. On February 22, 1807 he died at Askham Hall. He was buried near his place of birth at Horbury church, which he had built and paid for. Carr decided to remain in Yorkshire rather than move to London because he calculated that there was ample patronage and the wealth to sustain it. No job was too small. His largest work, only partially finished, was the Hospital de Santo António in Oporto, Portugal. Carr’s own favourite work was the Crescent at Buxton in Derbyshire, an early example of multifunctional architecture. As well as hotels and lodging houses, it contained Assembly Rooms, shops, a post office and a public promenade all under one roof. On a smaller scale, the same is true of his Newark Town Hall. Other public buildings included hospitals (e.g.