Decimus Burton

Decimus was the tenth child of James Burton, a pre-eminent London property developer (1761–1837), and Elizabeth Westley (12 December 1761 – 14 January 1837), of Loughton, Essex, the daughter of John and Mary Westley. who was the first native Canadian to be raised to the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Decimus's siblings included the Egyptologist James Burton, and the physician Henry Burton. He was the cousin of Constance Mary Fearon, who was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society. ==Education and architectural style==

Decimus was born at the 'very comfortable and well staffed' North House in the newly built Southampton Terrace, Bloomsbury, London. and Decimus became acquainted with Nash through his father. Cornwall Terrace, York Terrace, Chester Terrace, Clarence Terrace, the villas along the Inner Circle, including The Holme and the London Colosseum according to Thomas Hornor's specifications. However, to Nash's great annoyance, Decimus disregarded the latter's advice and developed the terraces according to his own style. As a result, Nash sought, unsuccessfully, to demolish and completely rebuild Chester Terrace. Decimus subsequently eclipsed his master and emerged as the dominant force in the design of Carlton House Terrace, where he exclusively designed No. 3 and No. 4. Decimus also designed some of the villas of the Inner Circle: his villa for the Marquess of Hertford has been described as, 'decorated simplicity, such as the hand of taste, aided by the purse of wealth can alone execute'. Other influences , to the design of which Burton made extensive contributions Decimus was a polymath and a philomath and extremely erudite in both arts and sciences, as was demonstrated by the diversity of his library – a part of which was auctioned off by his nieces after his death. The sale catalogue listed 347 separate lots, some of which ran into many volumes, and demonstrated the diversity of his intellectual interests: it contained the complete Proceedings of the Camden Society, in 135 volumes; and transactions of many of the learned societies of which Burton was a member; and the complete Histoire Naturelle (70 vols.) of G. L. L. Buffon and Bernard Germain de Lacépède; and standard works on classical architecture, such as the five volumes of Colen Campbell, Vitruvius Britannicus by John Woolfe and James Gandon, James Gibbs's Book of Architecture, and William Kent's The Designs of Inigo Jones; and numerous topographical views and surveys of cities and counties in the collection; and foreign-language texts, including volumes by Charles Percier and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet, and a complete set of Giovanni Battista Piranesi's works, and several dictionaries. The absence of any Grand Tour early in Decimus's career meant that his books and casts were the sources for his early designs, which are technically formal in style. However, he subsequently travelled extensively in Europe and North America. His first tours were of France and Spain, in 1826. He toured the Netherlands in 1846 and Germany in 1850. He toured Italy, including Venice. He toured Canada and the United States, after departing Liverpool for Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his cousin Thomas Chandler Haliburton, a Tory MP and author. Burton collected casts, which informed his work, over 200 of which he donated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which displayed 18 of the same in its British Galleries. Although he was the leading exponent of Greek Revival architecture, Burton was uniquely and significantly influenced by Ancient Roman architecture. It was in his Georgian neoclassical work that he attained the acme of his excellence. Dana Arnold (2002) described his Neoclassical work thus: "His use of the orders is always correct, but he showed a lack of pedantry in their application that sets him apart from some of his more doctrinaire contemporaries, such as Hamilton and Smirke. From Nash he had learned to combine the classical and the picturesque, and it is the picturesque that is predominant in much of his later work". In his later career, Decimus designed buildings in the Gothic Revival style, the old English style and in the cottage orné style. His Gothic Revival designs are unoriginal as he had little sympathy for the style. ==Life==

in Regent's Park in London, which was built by the company of James Burton to a design by Decimus Burton. It has been described as "one of the most desirable private homes in London" by architectural scholar Guy Williams, and "a definition of Western civilization in a single view" by architectural critic Ian Nairn. Burton has been described, by architectural scholar Guy Williams, as "rich, cool, well-dressed, apparently celibate, the designer and prime member of the Athenaeum, one of London's grandest gentlemens' clubs" Over his grave is a tapering sarcophagus of grey Cornish granite, on a stepped base, with a shallow pyramidal cover. His tomb was Grade II listed building in 2001. On his death, his property, including his extensive library and all of his architectural drafts and notes passed to surviving members of his family, mostly to his nephew Alfred Henry Burton (d.1917) or his two unmarried nieces, Helen and Emily Jane Wood, who subsequently sold their share, despite that he had left his library to the Royal Institute of British Architects, of which he had served as president. However, Burton donated 200 of his extensive collection of casts, which informed his work, to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which displayed 18 of the same in its British Galleries. Amongst Burton's possession on his death were an oil painting of St. John, copied by Sir Joshua Reynolds from a work by Raphael; a model of the Temple on the Ilissus at Athens; a statuette of an Angel copied from an original by Thorvaldsen; framed drawings of 'A Royal Palace' by Joseph Gandy ARA (b. 1771), who had been described as 'an English Piranesi'; and a bronze lamp suspended from a snake's mouth. An obituary notice said "No architect was better known, and none was better respected, for he was amiable, considerable, and gentle to all". ==Career==

Central London Parks During the second half of the 1820s, the Commissioners of Woods and Forests and the King resolved that Hyde Park, and the area around it, must be renovated to the extent of the splendor of rival European capital cities, and that the essence of the new arrangement would be a triumphal approach to Buckingham Palace, which had been recently completed. During 1882, traffic congestion at Hyde Park Corner motivated advocacy for Burton's triumphal arch to be moved to the top of Constitution Hill to create space for traffic. In response to this advocacy, Burton's great-nephew Francis Fearon compiled and published a pamphlet that advocated the removal of the Wellington statue from the arch in the event of the removal of the arch to another location: Fearon contended that the arch should be 'relieved once and for all of its unsightly load'. There is a photographic portrait of Decimus, taken in 1873, preserved at the club, An 1828 testimonial for his election to Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries described him as 'Architect and Gentleman, well versed in the History and Antiquaries of this Kingdom': he was elected FSA on 8 January 1829, during the tenure of W. R. Hamilton, Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, as vice-president. Protégés Burton trained his nephew, Henry Marley Burton (1821–1880) Burton's legacy on either side of the Irish Sea endures. In April 2017 the Hearsum Collection, in collaboration with The Royal Parks and Ireland's Office of Public Works, mounted an exhibition at Dublin's Phoenix Park entitled Parks, Our Shared Heritage: The Phoenix Park, Dublin & The Royal Parks, London, demonstrating the historical links between Richmond Park (and other Royal Parks in London) and Phoenix Park. This exhibition was also displayed at the Mall Galleries in London in July and August 2017. ==List of architectural projects==

The projects are listed by county in alphabetical order. The list is based on the work of , and on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for "Burton, Decimus (1800–1881)", by Dana Arnold. Any other sources are specified individually. Buckinghamshire • Stockgrove House, Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire border (1831) demolished circa 1928 Derbyshire • The Great Conservatory and the Home Farm at Chatsworth (1836–1840: Conservatory demolished circa 1920)) File:North Street, St Leonards-on-Sea.jpg|North Street with Kenilworth Road in background File:Steps to Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea.jpg|Steps down to Kings Road File:Warrior square station.JPG|Warrior Square Station, St Leonard's-on-Sea Central London • The Holme, Inner Circle, Regent's Park (1818). From 1818, Burton resided, with his father, at The Holme, Regent's Park, which has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London', • The Geological Society's apartments at Somerset House (1828) • The former United Service Club, Pall Mall, London alterations. • The Oriental Club. The construction of additions to the club building that were designed by Decimus Burton, in 1853, was superintended, when eventually commenced, in 1871, by his nephew, Henry Marley Burton. • Kew Gardens. Layout of the gardens and paths, the Palm House (1844–48) (at the time the largest greenhouse in the world), Main Gate (1846, renamed The Elizabeth Gate in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II), the Water Lily House (1852), The Museum, (1857, extended 1881), the Temperate House, (1859–1863) (the flanking wings, also part of Burton's design, were not built until 1897–98) • Beulah Spa, Upper Norwood, London SE (1831). Burton landscaped the grounds and designed the buildings for the entrepreneur, John Davidson Smith. It became a popular society venue attracting large crowds to its fêtes. • Lay-out and gates, Dublin Zoo, Royal Irish Constabulary headquarters in Phoenix Park, Dublin (1840) • Queenstown, County Cork, the invitation to make improvements to the sea-side resort in the 1840s was made by George Brodrick, 5th Viscount Midleton • Martinstown House, County Kildare (1833) File:Phoenix Park Monument.jpg|Phoenix Monument, Phoenix Park, Dublin File:Dublin. Phoenix Park. Outside car (Jaunting car). Postcard, c. 1905.jpg|Dublin - Phoenix Park Jaunting car Postcard, c. 1905 File:Ireland - Dublin - Phoenix Park - Wellington Monument 2.jpg|Phoenix Park - Wellington Monument File:Garda HQ.jpg|Garda (Police) HQ in Dublin's Phoenix Park File:Dublin Zoo house.jpg|Dublin Zoo entrance lodge (1833) File:Queenstown aka Cobh (8141082551).jpg|Queenstown, aka Cobh, c. 1890 File:Cobh (pronounced Cove) dominates Cork Harbour one of the largest natural harbours in the world (7359306822) (2).jpg|Cobh dominates Cork Harbour – Dublin, Republic of Ireland ==See also==