John Dixon Butler

John Dixon Butler RA FRIBA
Dixon Butler, pictured in a 1920 edition of The Builder
Born	December 1860
Died	27 October 1920
Alma mater	University College London Architectural Association
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Surveyor to the Metropolitan Police (1895–1920)

John Dixon Butler RA, FRIBA (December 1860^[1] – 27 October 1920) was a British architect and surveyor who had a long, professional association with London's Metropolitan Police. During his 25-year career with the police, he completed the designs and alterations to around 200 police buildings, including ten courts; as of 2022, about 58 of his buildings survive. Historic England describes him as "one of the most accomplished Metropolitan Police architects" and have included around 25 of his buildings on the National Historic List of England and Wales.

Dixon Butler was born in London and studied architecture under Richard Norman Shaw, with whom he would later work on the designs for Canon Row Police Station (1898), and the Scotland Yard (south building) (1906) on London's Embankment. Dixon Butler took over the role of architect and surveyor to the Metropolitan Police from his father in 1895, making him the fifth such architect to hold the post. Dixon Butler's designs were usually in a domestic style, sensitive to the context of newly-developed suburban areas in which stations were often located, but with strong municipal qualities such as iron railings, inscribed lintels identifying the building as a police station, and other stone dressings.

Elected a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1906, Dixon Butler worked up until his death in 1920. He was succeeded in the role of surveyor to the Metropolitan Police by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, the same year.