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William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoclassical architectural style and re-establish the architectural and social values of a utopian
medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...
. Burges stands within the tradition of the Gothic Revival, his works echoing those of the Pre-Raphaelites and heralding those of the Arts and Crafts movement. Burges's career was short but illustrious; he won his first major commission for
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra) is a Gothic Revival three-spire Church of Ireland cathedral in the city of Cork. It is located on the south bank of the River Lee and dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patron saint of ...
in Cork in 1863 when he was 35. He died in 1881 at his Kensington home, The Tower House aged only 53. His architectural output was small but varied. Working with a long-standing team of craftsmen, he built churches, a cathedral, a warehouse, a university, a school, houses and castles. Burges's most notable works are Cardiff Castle, constructed between 1866 and 1928, and
Castell Coch (; ) is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff G ...
(1872–91), both of which were built for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. Other significant buildings include Gayhurst House, Buckinghamshire (1858–65),
Knightshayes Court Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house o ...
(1867–74), the Church of Christ the Consoler (1870–76), St Mary's, Studley Royal (1870–78), in Yorkshire, and Park House, Cardiff (1871–80). Many of his designs were never executed or were subsequently demolished or altered. His competition entries for cathedrals at
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
(1854),
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
(1856),
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...
,
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
(1859),
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
(1873), and
Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...
(1878) were all unsuccessful. He lost out to George Edmund Street in the competition for the
Royal Courts of Justice The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
(1866–67) in The Strand. His plans for the redecoration of the interior of St Paul's Cathedral (1870–77) were abandoned and he was dismissed from his post. Skilbeck's Warehouse (1865–66) was demolished in the 1970s, and work at Salisbury Cathedral (1855–59), Worcester College, Oxford (1873–79), and at Knightshayes Court had been lost in the decades before. Beyond architecture, Burges designed metalwork, sculpture, jewellery, furniture and stained glass. ''Art Applied to Industry'', a series of lectures he gave to the
Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
in 1864, illustrates the breadth of his interests; the topics covered including
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
,
pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...
,
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...
and
iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
,
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
and
silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
, furniture, the weaver's art and external architectural decoration. For most of the century following his death,
Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
was neither the subject of intensive study nor sympathetic attention and Burges's work was largely ignored. The revival of interest in Victorian art, architecture, and design in the later twentieth century led to a renewed appreciation of Burges and his work.


Early life and travels

Burges was born on 2 December 1827, the son of Alfred Burges (1796–1886), a wealthy civil engineer. Alfred amassed a considerable fortune, which enabled his son to devote his life to the study and practice of architecture without requiring that he actually earn a living. Burges entered
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...
, London, in 1839 to study engineering, his contemporaries there including
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...
and
William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Rossetti ''née'' Polidor ...
. He left in 1844 to join the office of Edward Blore, surveyor to
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. Blore was an established architect, having worked for both
William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
and
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
, and had made his reputation as a proponent of the Gothic Revival. In 1848 or 1849, Burges moved to the offices of
Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...
. Wyatt was as prominent an architect as Blore, evidenced by his leading role in the direction of
The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...
in 1851. Burges's work with Wyatt, particularly on the Medieval Court for this exhibition, was influential on the subsequent course of his career. During this period, he also worked on drawings of medieval metalwork for Wyatt's book, ''Metalwork'', published in 1852, and assisted Henry Clutton with illustrations for his works. Of equal importance to Burges's subsequent career was his travelling. Burges believed that all architects should travel, remarking that it was "absolutely necessary to see how various art problems have been resolved in different ages by different men." Enabled by his private income, Burges moved through England, then France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece and finally into
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. In total, he spent some 18 months abroad developing his skills and knowledge by sketching and drawing. What he saw and drew provided a repository of influences and ideas that he used and re-used for the whole of his career. Although he never went beyond Turkey, the art and architecture of the East, both Near and Far, had a significant impact on him; his fascination with Moorish design found ultimate expression in the Arab Room at Cardiff Castle, and his study of Japanese techniques influenced his later metalwork. Burges received his first important commission at the age of 35, but his subsequent career did not see the development that might have been expected. His style had already been formed over the previous twenty years of study, thinking and travelling. J. Mordaunt Crook, the foremost authority on Burges, writes that, "once established, after twenty years' preparation, his 'design language' had merely to be applied, and he applied and reapplied the same vocabulary with increasing subtlety and gusto."


Early works

In 1856 Burges established his own architectural practice in London at 15 Buckingham Street, The Strand. Some of his early pieces of furniture were created for this office and were later moved to The Tower House, Melbury Road, Kensington, the home he built for himself towards the end of his life. His early architectural career produced nothing of major note, although he won prestigious commissions for Lille Cathedral, the
Crimea Memorial Church The Crimea Memorial Church, also known as ''Christ Church'', is a Church of England church in the Beyoglu - Taksim district of Istanbul, Turkey. History The current church was built on land donated by Sultan Abdulmecid and was constructed betwe ...
and the Bombay School of Art. None were built to Burges's designs. His failed entry for the Law Courts in the Strand, if successful, would have given London its own Carcassonne, the plans being described by the architectural writers Dixon and Muthesius as "a recreation of a thirteenth-century dream world
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
a skyline of great inventiveness." In 1859, he submitted a French-inspired design for St John's Cathedral in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Australia, which was rejected. He also provided designs for Colombo Cathedral in Ceylon and St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide, without success. In 1855, however, he obtained a commission for the reconstruction of the chapter house of Salisbury Cathedral. Henry Clutton was the lead architect but Burges, as assistant, contributed to the restoration of the sculpture and to the general decorative scheme. Much was lost in restorations of the 1960s. More lasting was Burges's work of 1858 onwards in the substantial remodelling of Gayhurst House, in Buckinghamshire, for
Robert Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington Robert John Carrington, 2nd Baron Carrington, (16 January 1796 – 17 March 1868), was a politician and a baron in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was the son of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington, and Anne Boldero-Barnard.Edward J. Davies, ...
. Rooms there contain some of his large signature fireplaces, with carving by Burges's long-time collaborator Thomas Nicholls, in particular those in the Drawing Room which include motifs from '' Paradise Lost'' and ''
Paradise Regained ''Paradise Regained'' is a poem by English poet John Milton, first published in 1671. The volume in which it appeared also contained the poet's closet drama ''Samson Agonistes''. ''Paradise Regained'' is connected by name to his earlier and ...
.'' He also designed a circular lavatory for the male servants, the Cerberus Privy, which Jeremy Cooper describes as being "surmounted by a growling
Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; grc-gre, Κέρβερος ''Kérberos'' ), often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the ...
, each of his three heads inset with bloodshot glass eyes." In 1859 Burges began work with Ambrose Poynter on the Maison Dieu, Dover, which was completed in 1861. Emulation of the original medieval style can be seen in his renovation of the grotesque animals and in the coats of arms incorporated into his new designs. Burges later designed the Council Chamber, added in 1867, and in 1881 began work on Connaught Hall in Dover, a town meeting and concert hall. The new building contained meeting rooms and mayoral and official offices. Although Burges designed the project, most of it was completed after his death by his partners, Pullan and Chapple. The listed status of the Maison Dieu was reclassified as Grade I in 2017 and Dover District Council, the building's owner, is seeking grant funding to enable a restoration, focussing on Burges's work. In 1859–60, Burges took over the restoration of
Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and ...
from Poynter, working with Poynter's son Edward Poynter and with furniture makers Harland and Fisher. He commissioned
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...
of James Powell & Sons to make three stained-glass windows for the east end, representing the
Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a g ...
. The Abbey is a demonstration of Burges's skills as a restorer, with "a profound sensitivity towards medieval architecture." Mordaunt Crook wrote of Burges's interior that, "it meets the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
as an equal." In 1861–2, Burges was commissioned by Charles Edward Lefroy, secretary to the Speaker of the House of Commons, to build
All Saints Church, Fleet All Saints' Church is the Anglican parish church of the town of Fleet in the county of Hampshire, England. It is notable for its architect, William Burges and was constructed 1861–2. History and description The church was designed by Burges an ...
, as a memorial to Lefroy's wife. She was the daughter of James Walker, who established the marine engineering company of Walker and Burges with Burges's father Alfred, and this family connection brought Burges the commission.
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
says of Fleet that "it has no shape, nor character nor notable buildings, except one," that one being All Saints. The church is of red brick and Pevsner considered it "astonishingly restrained." The interior too is simply decorated but the massive sculpture, particularly of the tomb of the Lefroys and of the gabled arch below which the tomb originally stood, is quintessentially Burges, Crook describing it as "not so much muscular (gothic) as muscle-bound."


Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork

Despite early competition setbacks, Burges was sustained by his belief that Early French provided the answer to the crisis of architectural style that beset mid-Victorian England, writing "I was brought up in the thirteenth century belief and in that belief I intend to die"; and in 1863, at the age of 35, he finally secured his first major commission, for
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra) is a Gothic Revival three-spire Church of Ireland cathedral in the city of Cork. It is located on the south bank of the River Lee and dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patron saint of ...
, Cork. Burges's diary records his delight at the result: "Got Cork!" Saint Fin Barre's was to be the first new cathedral built in the British Isles since St Paul's. The competition occurred as a result of widespread dissatisfaction with the existing church of 1735 which the '' Dublin Builder'' described as "a shabby apology for a cathedral which has long disgraced Cork." The proposed budget was low, at £15,000, but Burges ignored this constraint, producing a design that he admitted would cost twice as much. Despite the protestations of fellow competitors, it won, though the final cost was to be in excess of £100,000. Burges, who had worked in Ireland before, at the Church of St Peter, Carrigrohane, at the Holy Trinity Church Templebreedy, at Frankfield and at Douglas, enjoyed strong local support, including that of the Bishop, John Gregg. In addition, as the ''Ireland Handbook'' notes, Burges "combined his love of medievalism with a conspicuous display of Protestant affluence" which was an important factor at a time when the established Anglican Church in Ireland was seeking to assert its predominance. For the exterior, Burges re-used some of his earlier unexecuted plans, the overall design from the
Crimea Memorial Church The Crimea Memorial Church, also known as ''Christ Church'', is a Church of England church in the Beyoglu - Taksim district of Istanbul, Turkey. History The current church was built on land donated by Sultan Abdulmecid and was constructed betwe ...
and St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, the elevations from
Lille Cathedral Lille Cathedral, the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille (french: Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille de Lille), is a Roman Catholic church and basilica in Lille, France, and the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Lille. An example of G ...
. The main problem of the building was its size. Despite the prodigious efforts of its fundraisers, and despite Burges exceeding the original budget, Cork was still unable to afford a really large cathedral. Burges overcame this obstacle by using the grandeur of his three-spired exterior to offset the lesser scale of the remainder of the building. Although the cathedral is modest in size, it is very richly ornamented. As was his usual practice, from his office in Buckingham Street and in the course of many site visits, Burges oversaw all aspects of the design, including the statuary, the stained glass and the furniture, charging 10% rather than his usual 5%, owing to the high level of his personal involvement. He drew designs for every one of the 1,260 sculptures that adorn the West Front and decorate the building inside and out. He sketched cartoons for the majority of the 74 stained glass windows. He designed the mosaic pavement, the altar, the pulpit and the bishop's throne. Lawrence and Wilson consider the result "undoubtedly urges'sgreatest work in ecclesiastical architecture" with an interior that is "overwhelming and intoxicating." Through his ability, by the careful leadership of his team, by total artistic control, and by vastly exceeding the intended budget of £15,000, Burges produced a building that in size is little more than a large parish church but in impression is described in Lawrence and Wilson's study as "a cathedral becoming such a city and one which posterity may regard as a monument to the Almighty's praise."


Architectural team

Burges inspired considerable loyalty within his team of assistants, and his partnerships were long-lived. John Starling Chapple was the office manager, joining Burges's practice in 1859. It was Chapple, designer of most of the furniture for Castell Coch, who completed its restoration after Burges's death. Second to Chapple was William Frame, who acted as clerk of works. Horatio Walter Lonsdale was Burges's chief artist, contributing extensive murals for both Castell Coch and Cardiff Castle. His main sculptor was Thomas Nicholls who started with Burges at Cork, completing hundreds of figures for Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral, worked with him on his two major churches in Yorkshire, and undertook all of the original carving for the Animal Wall at Cardiff.
William Gualbert Saunders William Gualbert Saunders, known as W Gualbert Saunders, was an English designer of stained glass and founder of the stained glass manufacturers Saunders & Co. He established his manufactury at Endell Street, Covent Garden, in 1859 and subsequen ...
joined the Buckingham Street team in 1865 and worked with Burges on the development of the design and techniques of stained-glass manufacture, producing much of the best glass for Saint Fin Barre's. Ceccardo Egidio Fucigna was another long-time collaborator who sculpted the Madonna and Child above the drawbridge at Castell Coch, the figure of St John over the mantelpiece in Lord Bute's bedroom at Cardiff Castle and the bronze Madonna in the roof garden. Lastly, there was
Axel Haig Axel Herman Haig ( sv, Axel Herman Hägg); (10 November 1835 –August 23, 1921) was a Swedish-born artist, illustrator and architect. His paintings, illustrations and etchings, undertaken for himself and on behalf of many of the foremost architect ...
, a Swedish-born illustrator, who prepared many of the watercolour perspectives with which Burges entranced his clients. Crook calls them "a group of talented men, moulded in their master's image, art-architects and medievalists to a man – jokers and jesters too – devoted above all to art rather than to business."


Partnership with the Marquess of Bute

In 1865, Burges met John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. This may have resulted from Alfred Burges's engineering firm,
Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People * Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) * Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California ...
, Burges and Cooper, having undertaken work on the East Bute Docks in Cardiff for the second Marquess. The 3rd Marquess became Burges's greatest architectural patron; both were men of their times; both had fathers whose industrial endeavours provided the means for their sons' architectural achievements, and both sought to "redeem the evils of industrialism by re-living the art of the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
". On his succession to the Marquessate at the age of one, Bute inherited an income of £300,000 a year, and, by the time he met Burges, he was considered the richest man in Britain, if not the world. Bute's wealth was important to the success of the partnership: as Burges himself wrote, "Good art is far too rare and far too precious ever to be cheap." But, as a scholar, antiquarian, compulsive builder and enthusiastic medievalist, Bute brought more than money to the relationship and his resources and his interests allied with Burges's genius to create what David McLees considers to be "Bute's most memorable overall achievement." However occasioned, the connection lasted the rest of Burges's life and led to his most important works. To the Marquess and his wife, Burges was the "soul-inspiring one". The architectural writer Michael Hall considers Burges's rebuilding of Cardiff Castle and the complete reconstruction of the ruin of Castell Coch, north of the city, as representing his highest achievements. In these buildings, Crook contends that Burges escaped into "a world of architectural fantasy" which Hall describes as "amongst the most magnificent the Gothic Revival ever achieved."


Cardiff Castle

In the early nineteenth century, the original Norman castle had been enlarged and refashioned by Henry Holland for the 1st Marquess of Bute, the 3rd Marquess's great-grandfather. The 2nd Marquess occupied the castle on visits to his extensive Glamorgan estates, during which he developed modern
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
and created
Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...
as the outlet for coal and steel from the South Wales Valleys, but did little to the castle itself, beyond completing the 1st Marquess's work. The 3rd Marquess despised Holland's efforts, describing the castle as having been "the victim of every barbarism since the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
", and, on his coming of age, engaged Burges to undertake rebuilding on a Wagnerian scale. Almost all of Burges's usual team were involved, including Chapple, Frame and Lonsdale, creating a building which John Newman describes in ''Glamorgan: The Buildings of Wales'' as the "most successful of all the fantasy castles of the nineteenth century." Work began in 1868 with the 150 feet high Clock Tower, in
Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...
ashlar. The tower forms a suite of bachelor's rooms, the Marquess not marrying until 1872. They comprise a bedroom, a servant's room and the Summer and Winter Smoking Rooms. Externally, the tower is a re-working of a design Burges used for the unsuccessful Law Courts competition. Internally, the rooms are sumptuously decorated with gilding, carvings and cartoons, many allegorical in style, depicting the seasons, myths and fables. In his ''A History of the Gothic Revival'', written as the tower was being built, Charles Locke Eastlake wrote of Burges's "peculiar talents (and) luxuriant fancy." The Summer Smoking Room is the tower's literal and metaphorical culmination. It rises two storeys high and has an internal balcony that, through an unbroken band of windows, gives views to Cardiff docks, one source of Bute's wealth, the Bristol Channel, and the Welsh hills and valleys. The floor has a map of the world in mosaic and the sculpture is by Thomas Nicholls. As the castle was developed, work continued with alterations to Holland's Georgian range, including his Bute Tower, and to the medieval Herbert and Beauchamp Towers, and the construction of the Guest Tower and the Octagonal Tower. In plan, the castle broadly follows the arrangement of a standard Victorian stately home. The Bute Tower includes Lord Bute's bedroom and ends in another highlight, the Roof Garden, with a sculpture of the Madonna by Fucigna and painted tiles by Lonsdale. Bute's bedroom has much religious iconography and a mirrored ceiling. The Marquess's name, John, is repeated in Greek, ΙΩΑИΣ, along the ceiling beams. The Octagon Tower followed, including the oratory, built on the spot where Bute's father died, and the Chaucer Room, the roof of which Mark Girouard cites as "a superb ... example of Burges's genius in the construction of roofs." The Guest Tower contains the site of the original kitchen at its base and above, the Nursery, decorated with painted tiles depicting
Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
and characters from nursery rhymes. The central block of the castle comprises the two-storey banqueting hall, with the library below. Both are enormous, the former to act as a suitable reception hall where the Marquess could fulfil his civic duties, the latter to hold part of his vast library. Both include elaborate carvings and fireplaces, those in the banqueting hall depicting the castle itself in the time of Robert, Duke of Normandy, who was imprisoned there in 1126–1134. The fireplace in the library contains five figures, four representing the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, Egyptian,
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and Assyrian alphabets, while the fifth is said to represent Bute as a Celtic monk. The figures refer to the purpose of the room and to the Marquess, a noted linguist. The decoration of these large rooms is less successful than in the smaller chambers; much was completed after Burges's death and Girouard considers that the muralist, Lonsdale, "was required to cover areas rather greater than his talents deserved." The central portion of the castle also included the Grand Staircase. Illustrated in a watercolour perspective prepared by
Axel Haig Axel Herman Haig ( sv, Axel Herman Hägg); (10 November 1835 –August 23, 1921) was a Swedish-born artist, illustrator and architect. His paintings, illustrations and etchings, undertaken for himself and on behalf of many of the foremost architect ...
, the staircase was long thought never to have been built but recent research has shown that it was constructed, only to be torn out in the 1930s, reputedly after the third Marchioness had "once slipped on its polished surface." The staircase was not universally praised in the contemporary press; the ''Building News'' writing that the design was "one of the least happy we have seen from Mr Burges's pencil...the contrasts of colour are more startling than pleasing." The Arab Room in the Herbert Tower was the last room on which Burges was working when he fell ill in 1881. Bute placed Burges's initials, together with his own and the date, in the fireplace of that room as a memorial. The room was completed by Burges's brother-in-law, Richard Popplewell Pullan. Following Burges's death, further areas of the castle were developed along the lines he had set by, amongst others, William Frame. This included extensive reconstruction of the walls of the original Roman fort. The Animal Wall, completed in the 1920s by the 4th Marquess, originally stood between the castle moat and the city and has nine sculptures by Thomas Nicholls, with a further six sculpted by
Alexander Carrick Alexander Carrick (20 February 1882 – 1966) was a Scottish sculptor. He was one of Scotland's leading monumental sculptors of the early part of the 20th century. He was responsible for many architectural and ecclesiastical works as well as m ...
in the 1930s. The Swiss Bridge, which crossed the
leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...
to Bute Park, was moved in the 1920s and demolished in the 1960s. The stables, which lie to the north, on the edge of Bute Park, were designed by Burges in 1868–69. Megan Aldrich contends that Burges's interiors at Cardiff have "rarely eenequalled, lthoughhe executed few buildings as his rich fantastic gothic required equally rich patrons (..) his finished works are outstanding monuments to nineteenth century gothic", the suites of rooms he created at Cardiff being amongst "the most magnificent that the gothic revival ever achieved." Crook goes further still, arguing that the rooms reach beyond architecture to create "three dimensional passports to fairy kingdoms and realms of gold. In Cardiff Castle we enter a land of dreams". The Castle was given to Cardiff City Corporation by the 5th Marquess of Bute in 1947.


Castell Coch

In 1872, while work at Cardiff Castle was proceeding, Burges presented a scheme for the complete reconstruction of
Castell Coch (; ) is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff G ...
, a ruined thirteenth-century fort on the Bute estate to the north of Cardiff. Burges's report on the possible reconstruction was delivered in 1872 but building was delayed until 1875, in part because of the pressure of works at Cardiff Castle and in part because of an unfounded concern on behalf of the Marquess's trustees that he was facing bankruptcy. The exterior comprises three towers, described by Newman as "almost equal to each other in diameter, utarrestingly dissimilar in height." Burges's main inspiration was the work of the almost contemporaneous French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc who was undertaking similar restoration and building work for
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
. Viollet-le-Duc's work at the Château de Coucy, The Louvre and particularly at the Château de Pierrefonds is echoed at Castell Coch, Burges's Drawing Room roof drawing heavily on the octagonal, rib-vaulted ''chambre de l'Imperatrice'' at Pierrefonds. Burges's other main source was the Château de Chillon, from which his conical, and conjectural, tower roofs are derived. Severely damaged during Welsh rebellions in the early fourteenth century, Castell Coch fell into disuse and by the
Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...
, the antiquary John Leland described it as "all in ruin no big thing but high." A set of drawings for the planned rebuilding exists, together with a full architectural justification by Burges. The castle reconstruction features three conical roofs to the towers that are historically questionable. According to Crook, Burges "supported his roofs with a considerable body of examples of doubtful validity; the truth was that he wanted them for their architectural effect." The Keep Tower, the Well Tower and the Kitchen Tower comprise a series of apartments, of which the main sequence, the Castellan's Rooms, lie within the Keep. They begin weakly, the Banqueting Hall, completed well after Burges's death, being described by Newman as "dilute ndunfocused" while Crook considers it "anaemic." It contains a colossal chimney piece, carved by Thomas Nicholls. The identity of the central figure in the overmantel is uncertain; Girouard states that it is King David while McLees suggests that it depicts St Lucius. The Drawing Room is a double-height room with decoration that Newman describes as illustrating the "intertwined themes (of) the fecundity of nature and the fragility of life." A stone fireplace by Nicholls features the Three Fates, spinning, measuring and cutting the thread of life. The murals around the walls draw on
Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
with delicate drawings of animals in the Aesthetic Movement style. The octagonal chamber with its great rib-vault, modelled on Viollet-le-Duc's chambers at Coucy and Pierrefonds, is decorated with drawings of butterflies and birds. Off the hall lies the Windlass Room, in which Burges delighted in assembling the fully functioning apparatus for the drawbridge, together with murder-holes for expelling boiling oil. The Marquess's bedroom provides some spartan relief before the culmination of the castle, Lady Bute's Bedroom. Crook considers this room "pure Burges: an arcaded circle, punched through by window embrasures, and topped by a trefoil-sectioned dome." The decorative theme is 'love', symbolised by monkeys, pomegranates and nesting birds. The decoration was completed long after Burges's death but his was the guiding spirit. "Would Mr Burges have done it?" William Frame wrote to Thomas Nicholls in 1887. Burges's original design for the castle included a chapel to be built on the roof of the Well Tower. It was never finished and the remains were removed in the late nineteenth century. Following Burges's death in 1881, work on the interior continued for another ten years. The castle was little used, the Marquess never came after its completion, and its main function was as a family sanatorium, although the Marchioness and her daughter, Lady Margaret Crichton-Stuart, did occupy it for a period following the death of the Marquess in 1900. In 1950, the 5th Marquess of Bute handed the castle over to the Ministry of Works. McLees views it as "one of the greatest Victorian triumphs of architectural composition", whilst Crook writes of Burges "recreating from a heap of rubble a fairy-tale castle which seems almost to have materialised from the margins of a medieval manuscript."


Later works

Bute's commissions formed the major corpus of Burges's work from the 1860s until his death. However, he continued to accept other appointments.


Worcester College, Oxford

The interiors of the Hall and Chapel of Worcester College, Oxford, had been designed by
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...
in 1776–90. In 1864, Burges was commissioned to overhaul Wyatt's unremarkable designs for the chapel by the Reverend H. C. O. Daniel, a member of the college's Senior Common Room and future Provost, who had known Burges when they were contemporaries at King's College London. Burges's extensive iconography envelopes the building, with animals and birds depicted on the end of pews, and Burges's mosaic flooring astonished his contemporaries. Drawing on his rare knowledge of medieval techniques and working with his meticulous attention to detail, Burges created a chapel that Crook describes as "almost unique amongst High Victorian ecclesiastical interiors." The richly symbolic iconography" and
Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
influences on the scheme of decoration are significant, Gillingham suggesting that Burges's Freemasonry connections were a partial explanation for his appointment and noting that a "symbolic masonic commentary pervades the Chapel. Unusually, in the redecoration of the Chapel, Burges did not use members of his usual team. The stained glass and the ceiling paintings are by
Henry Holiday Henry Holiday (17 June 183915 April 1927) was a British historical genre and landscape painter, stained-glass designer, illustrator, and sculptor. He is part of the Pre-Raphaelite school of art. Life Early years and training Holiday was born ...
, and the statues, lectern and candlesticks are by William Grinsell Nicholl. In 1873–79 Burges undertook a redecoration of the College's Hall. The funds needed for the Hall were raised by an appeal in which the decorated wooden panels on the walls were individual gifts, incorporating the crests and shields of the donors. In some cases, where there were no known crests or shields, those of former members were substituted and Burges made several painted imitations of marbling on wood. The large window at the end of the Hall was also filled with the armorial bearings for which room had not been found in the panels. A fireplace was also inserted on the dais. Almost all of Burges's work in the Hall was lost in a redevelopment of the 1960s in which Wyatt's designs were reinstated, although the fireplace was removed to
Knightshayes Court Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house o ...
and the East Window, above the high table, was restored circa 2009.


Skilbeck's Warehouse

Skilbeck's Warehouse, formerly at 46 Upper Thames Street, London, and now demolished, was a
drysalter Drysalters were dealers in a range of chemical products, including glue, varnish, dye and colourings. They might supply salt or chemicals for preserving food and sometimes also sold pickles, dried meat or related items. The name ''drysalter'' or '' ...
's warehouse constructed by Burges in 1866 and is important as his only foray into industrial design. Burges was commissioned by the Skilbeck Brothers to remodel an existing warehouse; the result was influential, Eastlake describing it as, "one of the very few instances of the successful adaptation of Gothic for commercial purposes". Bradley writes of Burges's remodelling as using "twin pointed bays under a single Gothic relieving arch and gable". The use of exposed
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
was revolutionary. Modern materials and technologies were combined with gothic iconography, an article of 1886 in ''The Ecclesiologist'' describing "the great crane supported by a corbel carved into a bust of a fair Oriental maid, symbolising the clime from which so much of the drysalter's materials are brought, and over a circular window in the gable (a) ship bringing in its precious freight." The total cost of the work was £1,413.


Knightshayes Court

The commission for the brand new house of
Knightshayes Court Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house o ...
was obtained from Sir John Heathcoat-Amory in 1867 and the foundation stone was laid in 1869. By 1874, the building was still incomplete, owing to ongoing difficulties with Heathcoat-Amory, who objected to many of Burges's designs on the grounds of cost and of style. Although work had begun on the interior, the turbulent relationship between architect and client led to Burges's sacking in 1874 and his replacement by John Dibblee Crace. Nevertheless, Knightshayes Court remains the only example of a medium-sized Burges country house, built in a standard Victorian arrangement. Early French Gothic in style, it follows a standard neo-Tudor plan of a large central block with projecting gables. The tower Burges planned was never built. The interior was to have been a riot of Burgesian excess but not a single room was completed to Burges's designs. Of the few interior features that were fully executed, much was altered or diluted by Heathcoat-Amory and his successors. However some of the interiors, such as the library, vaulted hall and the arched red drawing room, remain or have been re-instated. Since the house passed to the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
in 1972, major works of restoration and re-creation have been undertaken and a number of pieces of Burges furniture, mostly not original to the house, are displayed. These include a bookcase from Buckingham Street and a chimney piece from the Hall at Worcester College, Oxford, where, in the 1960s, some decorative works by Burges were removed, although his redecoration of the college Chapel remains. The aim is, as far as possible, to reinstate the work of Burges and Crace.


Park House

Park House, Cardiff, was built by Burges for Lord Bute's engineer, James McConnochie, between 1871 and 1875. With its steep roofs and boldly textured walls, Park House revolutionised Cardiff's domestic architecture, and was highly influential, in the city and beyond. The impact of the building can be seen in many of Cardiff's inner suburbs, where imitations of Park House and its features can frequently be identified. Cadw described it as "perhaps the most important 19th century house in Wales", a position reflected in its status as a
Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The style of the house is Early French Gothic, with triangle and rectangle to the fore, although it is without the conical tower Burges considered appropriate both for his own home, The Tower House and for Castell Coch. Burges used various building stones for Park House: Pennant Sandstone for the walls, Bath Stone around the windows, entrance porch and plinths, with pillars in pink Peterhead granite from Aberdeenshire. The external frontage comprises four gables, the windows of the last gable concealing what Newman describes as "the major peculiarity of the interior. On entering, one is immediately confronted by the underside of the staircase, and has to skirt round it to reach the rest of the house." The arrangement was not repeated at The Tower House, which is an almost reversed replica with added conical tower. The interior fittings are of high quality, including the massive, mahogany staircase and marble chimneypieces. Both the drawing room and the dining room have beamed ceilings. The whole is built with a solidity that was guaranteed by the use of the Marquess of Bute's own workforce from Cardiff Docks.
Henry-Russell Hitchcock Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903–1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architecture. Early life He ...
, the American architecture critic, considered Park House "one of the best medium-sized stone dwellings of the High Victorian Gothic".


Christ the Consoler, St Mary's and St Paul's Cathedral

Burges's two finest gothic churches were also undertaken in the 1870s, the Church of Christ the Consoler, Skelton-on-Ure, and St Mary's, Studley Royal. His patron, George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, although not as rich as Bute, was his equal in romantic medievalism and had been a friend of Bute's at Oxford, which may account for the choice of Burges as architect. Both churches were built as memorial churches for Ripon's brother-in-law, Frederick Grantham Vyner, who was murdered by Greek bandits in 1870. Vyner's mother commissioned the Church of Christ the Consoler and his sister St Mary's. Both begun in 1870, Skelton was consecrated in 1876 and Studley Royal in 1878. The Church of Christ the Consoler, in the grounds of Newby Hall in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
, is built in the Early English style. The exterior is constructed of grey Catraig stone, with Morcar stone for the mouldings. The interior is faced with white limestone, and richly fitted out with marble. The work was undertaken by members of Burges's usual team, Gualbert Saunders making the stained glass, from cartoons by Lonsdale, and Nicholls sculpting the carvings. Leach and Pevsner describe the scheme of stained glass as "uncommonly excellent." It is particularly interesting as representing an architectural move from Burges's favourite Early French style to an English inspiration. Pevsner considers it: "Of determined originality; the impression is one of great opulence, even if of a somewhat elephantine calibre." The Church of St Mary, Studley Royal, is also in the Early English style and is located in the grounds of Studley Royal Park at Fountains Abbey, in
North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
. As at Christ the Consoler, the exterior is of grey limestone, with a two-stage west tower topped with a soaring spire. The interior is equally spectacular, exceeding Skelton in richness and majesty, Leach commenting that "everything is precisely calculated as to its visual impact." The theme, previously used at Gayhurst, is Paradise Lost and
Paradise Regained ''Paradise Regained'' is a poem by English poet John Milton, first published in 1671. The volume in which it appeared also contained the poet's closet drama ''Samson Agonistes''. ''Paradise Regained'' is connected by name to his earlier and ...
. The stained glass, by Saunders & Co, is of particularly high quality.
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
describes St Mary's as "a dream of Early English glory" and Crook writes, " lthoughCork Cathedral may stand as Burges's greatest Gothic work, Studley Royal is his 'ecclesiastical' masterpiece." Burges also constructed an estate cottage in 1873. In 1870, Burges was asked to draw up an iconographic scheme of internal decoration for St Paul's Cathedral, unfinished since the death of Sir Christopher Wren. In 1872, he was appointed architect and over the next five years produced what Crook describes as a "full-blown scheme of early Renaissance decoration" for the interior which he intended would eclipse that of St Peter's in Rome. However, as Crook writes, his plans were "rather too creative for most Classicists" and these artistic, and linked religious, controversies led to Burges's dismissal in 1877 with none of his plans undertaken.


Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut

In 1872, Abner Jackson, the President of
Trinity College, Connecticut Trinity College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded as Washington College in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut. Coed ...
, visited Britain, seeking models and an architect for a planned new campus for the college. Burges was chosen and he drew up a four-quadrangled masterplan, in his Early French style. Lavish illustrations were produced by
Axel Haig Axel Herman Haig ( sv, Axel Herman Hägg); (10 November 1835 –August 23, 1921) was a Swedish-born artist, illustrator and architect. His paintings, illustrations and etchings, undertaken for himself and on behalf of many of the foremost architect ...
. However, the estimated cost, at just under one million dollars, together with the sheer scale of the plans, thoroughly alarmed the College Trustees. Only one-sixth of the plan was executed, the present Long Walk, with Francis H. Kimball acting as local, supervising, architect, and
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...
laying out the grounds. Crook considers the result, "unsatisfactory .. ut important. in its key position in the development of late nineteenth-century American architecture." Other critics have viewed Burges's design more positively: the American architectural historian
Henry-Russell Hitchcock Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903–1987) was an American architectural historian, and for many years a professor at Smith College and New York University. His writings helped to define the characteristics of modernist architecture. Early life He ...
thought Trinity "perhaps the most satisfactory of all of urges'sworks and the best example anywhere of Victorian Gothic collegiate architecture"; whilst Charles Handley-Read suggested the college was "is in some ways superior to Butterfield's Keble or Seddon's Aberystwyth."


The Tower House

From 1875, although he continued to work on the completion of projects already begun, Burges received no further major commissions. The construction, decoration and furnishing of his own home, The Tower House, Melbury Road, Kensington, occupied much of the last six years of his life. Burges designed the house in the style of a substantial thirteenth-century French townhouse. Of red brick, and in an L plan, the exterior is plain. The house is not large, its floor-plan being little more than 50 feet square. But the approach Burges took to its construction was on a grand scale: the floor depths were sufficient to support rooms four or five times their size and the architect Richard Norman Shaw wrote of the concrete foundations as being suitable "for a fortress." This approach, combined with Burges's architectural skills and the minimum of exterior decoration, created a building that Crook describes as "simple and massive". As was usual with Burges, many elements of earlier designs were adapted and included, the street frontage from the McConnochie House, the cylindrical tower and conical roof from
Castell Coch (; ) is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff G ...
and the interiors from Cardiff Castle. The interior centres on the double-height entrance hall, Burges having avoided the error that he had made at the McConnochie House when he placed a vast central staircase in the middle of the building. At The Tower House, the stair is consigned to the conical tower. The ground floor contains a drawing room, dining room and library, while the first floor holds bedroom suites and a study. If Burges shunned exterior decoration at The Tower House, he more than compensated internally. Each room has a complex iconographic scheme of decoration: that of the hall is Time, in the drawing room, Love, in Burges's bedroom, the Sea. Massive fireplaces with elaborate overmantels were carved and installed, a castle in the Library and mermaids and sea-monsters of the deep in his own bedroom. His brother-in-law, Pullan, wrote that " Chaucer and Tennyson's poems were Mr Burges' chief text-books when engaged in designing these decorations." In designing the medieval interior to the house, Burges also illustrated his skill as a jeweller, metalworker and designer, and produced some of his best works of furniture including the Zodiac settle, the Dog Cabinet and the
Great Bookcase The Great Bookcase is a large piece of painted furniture designed by the English architect and designer William Burges.Dakers 1999, p. 175. The bookcase is high and wide. It has been described as "the most important example of Victorian painte ...
, the last of which Charles Handley-Read described as "occupying a unique position in the history of Victorian painted furniture." The fittings were as elaborate as the furniture: the tap for one of the guest washstands was in the form of a bronze bull from whose throat water poured into a sink inlaid with silver fish. Within the Tower House Burges placed some of his finest metalwork; the artist Henry Stacy Marks wrote "he could design a chalice as well as a cathedral ... His decanters, cups, jugs, forks and spoons were designed with an equal ability to that with which he would design a castle." Upon completion, the Tower House was sensationally received. In a survey of the architecture of the past fifty years, published by ''The Builder'' in 1893, it was the only private town house to be included. In 1966, when the house was empty, Handley-Read described it as "unique in London, a precious anthology of designs by one of the most imaginative of all Victorian architects." Crook considers the house, the "synthesis of urges'scareer and a glittering tribute to his achievement." The Tower House, which remains a private home, owned by Jimmy Page for many years, retains much of its internal structural decoration, but the furniture and contents that Burges designed for it have been dispersed.


Metalwork, jewellery and ceramics

Burges was a notable designer of Gothic-inspired metalwork and jewellery, and he has been cited as "Pugin's successor in the Gothic revival style." Although Burges was foremost an architect,
Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhoo ...
described his buildings as "more jewel than architecture", and Crook states that "Burges's genius as a designer is expressed to perfection in his jewellery and metalwork." He began with religious artifacts (candlesticks, chalices, pectoral crosses) as individual commissions or as part of the decorative scheme for buildings over which he had complete artistic control. Examples include the chalices for
St Michael's Church, Brighton St. Michael's Church (in full, St. Michael and All Angels Church) is an Anglican church in Brighton, England, dating from the mid-Victorian era. Located on Victoria Road in the Montpelier area, to the east of Montpelier Road, it is one of the ...
, the statue of the Angel which stands above St Fin Barre's and which was his personal gift to the cathedral, and the Dunedin Crozier. This item, carved in ivory and depicting St George slaying the dragon, was made for the first Bishop of
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
. Burges had an early, and close, connection to the Ecclesiological Society and in 1864 took on the role of superintendent of the Society's church
plate Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), a broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...
scheme, from which position he imposed Barkentin as the Society's official manufacturer. In 1875 Burges published the design in a French magazine as a thirteenth century original, an example of his delight in tricks and jokes. Similarly inventive were his designs for fish plates for Lord Bute, in which a service of eighteen plates is decorated with punning illustrations, such as a skating skate, and a winged perch seated on the branch of a tree. He also undertook commissions for other patrons, including the Sneyd dessert service. On 3 April 1872, Burges produced a gothic-style brooch for the marriage of the Marquess of Bute to Lady Bute. In September 1873, he produced another brooch for the Marchioness, in the shape of a gothic G, a gold heraldic shield in enamel, encrusted with gems and pearls. He followed this with a necklace and earrings, an attempt to "design in Castellani's archeological style." Another example of the works that Burges created for Lady Bute as a present for her husband, was a silver cruet set, in the form of two medieval retainers carrying tiny barrels of salt and pepper; the answer to the question of "what to give a man who (could) afford everything." His most notable metalworks were, however, created for himself, often with the proceeds of the winning of an architectural competition. Together, they display "a dazzling originality that surpasses any other silver designed earlier in the century". Examples include the Elephant Inkstand, which Crook considers "the very epitome of its creator's special genius", the pair of jewelled decanters paid for with the fees for the plans of the
Crimea Memorial Church The Crimea Memorial Church, also known as ''Christ Church'', is a Church of England church in the Beyoglu - Taksim district of Istanbul, Turkey. History The current church was built on land donated by Sultan Abdulmecid and was constructed betwe ...
and for his series of lectures, ''Art Applied to Industry'', and the Cat Cup, created by Barkentin in commemoration of the Law Courts competition, of which Crook writes: "Its technical virtuosity sets standards for the Arts and Crafts phase. But the overall conception, the range of materials, the ingenuity, the inventiveness, the sheer gusto of the design, is peculiarly, triumphantly Burges." Burges also designed more utilitarian articles which were nonetheless imbued with his love of allusion and punning, including silverware featuring
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
s,
spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s and other creatures and a set of knives and forks for the Tower House, with the handles, carved by Nicholls, showing symbols of "meat and vegetables, veal, venision, onion, pea and so on." He was also a knowledgeable critic, referred to by a contemporary as "one of the best judges of armour in Europe." His large collection of armour, parts of which came from the famed collection of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, was bequeathed to the British Museum upon his death. Only four examples of works in
ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
by Burges are known to exist. These are the tulip vases created for the corner
corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...
of the Summer Smoking Room at Cardiff Castle. Removed by the Fifth Marquess when the castle was given to the City of Cardiff in 1947, the vases were subsequently sold. They are now held by The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford, the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales and the National Museum of Scotland. The whereabouts of some of Burges's most important pieces are unknown, but discoveries are sometimes made: a brooch which he designed as a wedding present for his friend John Pollard Seddon was identified on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television series ''
Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...
'' and subsequently sold at auction for £31,000 in August 2011.


Stained glass

Burges played an important role in the renaissance of High Victorian stained glass. The provision of glass of appropriate colour and richness was central to many of his decorative themes, and he invested effort in working with the best cartoonists and manufacturers to achieve this. He also studied the history of glass production, writing in his second ''Art Applied to Industry'' lecture, " use of antiquarian studies is to restore disused arts, and to get all the good we can out of them for our own improvement." In the catalogue to the exhibition of stained glass cartoons from Cardiff Castle, Sargent pays tribute to "his deep knowledge of the history and techniques of glass manufacture" and Lawrence considers him a pioneer who, by his "painstaking studies, re-established the principles of medieval decoration and used this to make isown bold and original statements." The results were outstanding; Lawrence wrote that Burges designed with "a vibrancy, an intensity and a brilliance which no other glass maker could match." He acknowledges Burges's debt to the manufacturers and craftsmen with whom he worked, in particular, Gualbert Saunders, whose "technique
ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
Burges's glass its most distinctive characteristic, namely the flesh colour. This is unique, had no precedents and has had no imitators." As well as at Saint Fin Barre's, Burges designed stained glass for all of his own significant churches, for reconstructions of medieval churches undertaken by others, and for his secular buildings. He undertook significant work at Waltham Abbey with Edward Burne-Jones, but much of his work there was destroyed in
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
. Crook writes, "At Waltham, Burges does not copy. He meets the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
as an equal.". Windows by Burges continue to be discovered. In 2009, a stained glass window found in the vaults of Bath Abbey was confirmed as a design by Burges. The window, which was commissioned by Mallet and Company, featured on the ''Antiques Roadshow'' in early 2010 and is currently on display at the Bath Aqua Theatre of Glass. In March 2011, two glass panels designed by Burges were purchased for £125,000 by Cadw. The panels were part of a set of twenty Burges designed for the chapel at Castell Coch but were removed when the unfinished chapel was demolished. Ten of the panels were put on display at Cardiff Castle, and eight were used in the model of the chapel in the attic room of the Well Tower at Castell Coch; the two purchased by Cadw were considered lost until they failed to sell at auction in Salisbury in 2010. The Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Cadw, speaking after their purchase, said, "The panels show a variety of Welsh and British saints and key biblical figures and are of the highest quality Victorian stained glass. William Burges' work attracts enormous worldwide attention and the price reflects the artistic genius of the man and the rare quality of these glass panels." Research has also led to being Burges properly credited with work previously attributed to others. In his 1958 volume on North Somerset and Bristol, Pevsner praises the "aesthetic quality" of the stained glass at the Church of St James, in Winscombe, but erroneously describes it as "one of the best examples of
Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...
glass in existence and quite unrecorded." In fact, the glass is by Burges.


Furniture

Burges's furniture was, second to his buildings, his major contribution to the Victorian Gothic Revival; as Crook writes, "More than anyone, it was Burges, with his eye for detail and his lust for colour, who created the furniture appropriate to High Victorian Gothic." Enormous, elaborate and highly painted, Crook considers his "art furniture medieval in a way no other designer ever approached." The first detailed study of Burges's work in this area was by Charles Handley-Read in his article in ''
The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation s ...
'' of November 1963, ''Notes on William Burges's Painted Furniture''. Despised as much as his buildings in the reaction against Victorian taste that occurred in the twentieth century, his furniture came back into fashion in the latter part of that century and now commands very high prices. Burges's furniture is characterised by its historical style, its mythological iconography, its vibrant painting and, often, by rather poor workmanship. The
Great Bookcase The Great Bookcase is a large piece of painted furniture designed by the English architect and designer William Burges.Dakers 1999, p. 175. The bookcase is high and wide. It has been described as "the most important example of Victorian painte ...
collapsed in 1878 and required complete restoration. The painting of his furniture was central to Burges's views on its purpose. Describing his ideal medieval chamber in the lecture on furniture, delivered as part of the ''Art Applied to Industry'' series, he writes of its fittings being "covered with paintings; it not only did its duty as furniture, but spoke and told a story." The designs were frequently collaborative, with artists from Burges's circle completing the painted panels that they mostly comprise. The contributors were often notable, Vost's sales catalogue for the Mirrored Sideboard suggesting that some of its panels were by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones. Burges's furniture did not receive universal contemporary acclaim. In his major study of English domestic architecture, '' Das englische Haus'', published some twenty years after Burges's death, Hermann Muthesius wrote of The Tower House, "Worst of all, perhaps, is the furniture. Some of it is in the earlier manner, some of it box-like and painted all over. This style had now become fashionable, though with what historical justification it is not easy to say". Much of his early furniture, such as the
Great Bookcase The Great Bookcase is a large piece of painted furniture designed by the English architect and designer William Burges.Dakers 1999, p. 175. The bookcase is high and wide. It has been described as "the most important example of Victorian painte ...
and the Zodiac settle, was designed for his offices at Buckingham Street and subsequently moved to the Tower House. The Great Bookcase was also part of Burges's contribution to the Medieval Court at the 1862 International Exhibition. Others, such as the Yatman Cabinet, were created as commissions. Later pieces, such as the Crocker Dressing Table and the Golden Bed and its accompanying Vita Nuova washstand, were specifically made for suites of rooms at the Tower House. The Narcissus washstand was originally made for Buckingham Street and subsequently moved to Burges's bedroom at the Tower House. John Betjeman, later
Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
and a leading champion of the art and architecture of the Victorian Gothic Revival, was left the remaining lease on the Tower House, including some of the furniture, by E. R. B. Graham in 1961. He gave the washstand to the novelist
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires '' Decl ...
who made it the centrepiece of his 1957 novel, '' The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold'', in which Pinfold is haunted by the stand. Examples of Burges's painted furniture can be seen in major museums including the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, the
Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...
, the
National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
and the Manchester Art Gallery.
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
, holds a particularly fine collection, begun with a large number of purchases from the estate of Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read, including the Narcissus washstand, Burges's bed and the Crocker Dressing Table. The most recent acquisition by the Bedford Museum is the Zodiac settle (1869–70), painted by Henry Stacy Marks. The Museum paid £850,000 for the settle, comprising a £480,000 grant from the
National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...
, £190,000 from the Trustees of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and £180,000 from the Art Fund after the British government imposed an export ban on the work.


Personal life

Burges, who never married, was considered by his contemporaries to be eccentric, unpredictable, over-indulgent and flamboyant. He was also physically unprepossessing, described by the wife of his greatest patron as "ugly Burges". Short, fat, and so
near-sighted Near-sightedness, also known as myopia and short-sightedness, is an eye disease where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina. As a result, distant objects appear blurry while close objects appear normal. Other symptoms may include ...
that he once mistook a peacock for a man, Burges appears to have been sensitive about his appearance and very few images of him exist.National Portrait Gallery website: Collections: William Burges The known portraits are: a painting of 1858 by Edward John Poynter on an internal panel of the Yatman Cabinet; a photograph from the 1860s, by an unknown author, showing Burges dressed as a court jester; a sketch of 1871 in '' The Graphic'' by Theodore Blake Wirgman; a pencil drawing in profile of 1875 by
Edward William Godwin Edward William Godwin (26 May 1833, Bristol – 6 October 1886, London) was a progressive English architect-designer, who began his career working in the strongly polychromatic " Ruskinian Gothic" style of mid-Victorian Britain, inspired by ...
; three posed photographs from 1881 by Henry Van der Weyde and a posthumous caricature by
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...
. Whatever his physical shortcomings, his personality, his conversation and his sense of humour were attractive and infectious, Crook commenting that "his range of friends overedthe whole gamut of pre-Raphaelite London." Burges's childlike nature occasioned comment; Dante Gabriel Rossetti composing a limerick about him (see box). Robert Kerr's novel of 1879, ''The Ambassador Extraordinary'', involves an architect Georgius Oldhousen, whom Crook considers to be based on Burges; he is "not exactly young in years but is in an odd way youthful in appearance and in manners Georgius can never grow old ... His strong point is a disdain for Common Sense ... His vocation is Art ... matter of Uncommon Sense." Burges was a clubbable man. Elected to the Institute of British Architects in 1860, in 1862 he was appointed to its Council and in 1863 was elected to the Foreign Architectural Book Society, the FABS, which comprised the RIBA elite and was limited to fifteen members. He became a member of the Athenaeum Club in 1874, was a member of the Arts Club, the Medieval Society, the Hogarth Club, and was elected to the Royal Academy in the year of his death. As with many of his friends Burges also joined The Artists Rifles. Burges was a fanatical collector, particularly of drawings and metalwork. He was also a Freemason, a member of the same London lodge as his fellow architect
William Eden Nesfield William Eden Nesfield (2 April 1835 – 25 March 1888) was an English architect. Like his some-time partner, Richard Norman Shaw, he designed several houses in Britain in the revived 'Old English' and 'Queen Anne' styles during the 1860s and 1 ...
. Other pursuits included ratting and opium. The influence of drugs on his life and his architectural output has been debated; Crook speculating that it was in Constantinople, on his tour in the 1850s, that he first tasted opium and the ''Dictionary of Scottish Architects'' stating with certainty that his early death was brought about "at least partly as a result of his bachelor lifestyle of smoking both tobacco and opium." The architectural writer Simon Jenkins speculated as to why Sir John Heathcoat-Amory chose as his architect "an opium-addicted bachelor Gothicist who dressed in medieval costume." Burges's own diary of 1865 includes the reference, "Too much opium, did not go to Hayward's wedding", and Crook concludes that "it is hard to resist the conclusion that
pium Pium is a municipality in the state of Tocantins in the Northern region of Brazil. The municipality contains the Cantão State Park, created in 1998. It contains 21.56% of the Ilha do Bananal / Cantão Environmental Protection Area, created in ...
reinforced the dreamier elements in his artistic make-up".


Death

Burges died, aged 53, in his Red Bed at the Tower House, at 11.45 p.m. on Wednesday 20 April 1881. While on a tour of works at Cardiff, he caught a chill and returned to London, half-paralysed, where he lay dying for some three weeks. Among his last visitors were Oscar Wilde and James Whistler. He was buried in the tomb he designed for his mother at
West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...
, London. On his death, John Starling Chapple, Burges's office manager and close associate for more than twenty years, wrote "a constant relationship ... with one of the brightest ornaments of the profession has rendered the parting most severe. Thank God his work will live and ... be the admiration of future students. I have hardly got to realize my lonely position yet. He was almost all the world to me." Lady Bute, wife of his greatest patron, wrote, "Dear Burges, ugly Burges, who designed such lovely things – what a duck." In Saint Fin Barre's, together with memorials to his mother and sister, there is a memorial plaque to Burges, designed by him, and erected by his father. It shows the King of Heaven presiding over the four apostles, who hold open the Word of God. Under the inscription "Architect of this cathedral" is a simple shield and a small, worn, plaque with a mosaic surround, bearing Burges's entwined initials and name. Legal complications obstructed Burges's wish to be buried in the cathedral he had built. Burges's own words on Saint Fin Barre's, in his letter of January 1877 to the Bishop of Cork, sum up his career, "Fifty years hence, the whole affair will be on its trial and, the elements of time and cost being forgotten, the result only will be looked at. The great questions will then be, first, is this work beautiful and, secondly, have those to whom it was entrusted, done it with all their heart and all their ability."


Legacy and influence

On Burges's death in 1881, his contemporary, the architect
Edward William Godwin Edward William Godwin (26 May 1833, Bristol – 6 October 1886, London) was a progressive English architect-designer, who began his career working in the strongly polychromatic " Ruskinian Gothic" style of mid-Victorian Britain, inspired by ...
, said of him that "no one of the century of this country or any other that I know of, ever possessed that artistic rule over the kingdom of nature in a measure at all comparable with that which he shared in common with the creator of the
Sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
and the designer of Chartres." But the Gothic Revival he championed with such force was in decline. Within twenty years his style was considered hopelessly outdated and owners of his works sought to eradicate all traces of his efforts. From the 1890s to the later twentieth century, Victorian art was under constant assault, critics writing of "the nineteenth century architectural tragedy", ridiculing "the uncompromising ugliness" of the era's buildings and attacking the "sadistic hatred of beauty" of its architects. Of Burges, they wrote almost nothing. His buildings were disregarded or altered, his jewellery and stained glass were lost or ignored, and his furniture was given away. The architectural historian Megan Aldrich writes, "He founded no school ... had few adherents outside the circle of his practice ... and trained no further generation of designers." In comparison with more prolific contemporaries, he completed relatively few works and lost many architectural competitions. Burges's collaborator, the artist Nathaniel Westlake, lamented "competitions are ''seldom'' given to the best man – look at the number poor Burges won, or should have won, and I think he executed only one." Burges occasionally acted as a judge in architectural competitions and Eastlake also commented on Burges's failure to win them; "in one case only has he traversed this always arduous road to fame with anything like substantial success." Almost his sole champion in the years after his death was his brother-in-law, Richard Popplewell Pullan. Primarily an illustrator, as well as a scholar and archaeologist, Pullan trained with Alfred Waterhouse in Manchester, before joining Burges's office in the 1850s. In 1859, he married Burges's sister. Following Burges's death in 1881, Pullan lived at The Tower House and published collections of Burges's designs, including ''Architectural Designs of William Burges'' (1883) and ''The House of William Burges'' (1886). In his preface to ''Architectural Designs'' Pullan expressed the hope that illustrated volumes of his brother-in-law's work "would be warmly welcomed and thoroughly appreciated, not only by his professional brethern, but by all men of educated taste in Europe and America." This hope was not to be fulfilled for a hundred years but Burges's work did continue to attract followers in Japan. Josiah Conder studied under him, and, through Conder's influence, the notable Japanese architect Tatsuno Kingo was articled to Burges in the year before the latter's death. Burges also received brief, but largely favourable, attention in Muthesius's ''Das englische Haus'', where Muthesius described him as "the most talented Gothicist of his day". From the later twentieth century to the present a renaissance has occurred in the study of Victorian art, architecture and design and Crook contends that Burges's place at the centre of that world, as "a wide-ranging scholar, an intrepid traveller, a coruscating lecturer, a brilliant decorative designer and an architect of genius," is again appreciated. Crook writes further that, in a career of only some twenty years, he became "the most brilliant architect-designer of his generation," and, beyond architecture, his achievements in metalwork, jewellery, furniture and stained glass place him as Pugin's only "rival as the greatest art-architect of the Gothic Revival."


Architectural scholarship

Burges's limited output, and the general unpopularity of his work for much of the century following his death, meant that he was little studied. In a seventy-one page guide to Cardiff Castle, published in 1923, he is referenced only three times, and on each occasion his name is misspelt as "Burgess".
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
's 1951 volume on the exhibits at
The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took p ...
, ''High Victorian Design'', makes no mention of him, despite his significant contributions to the Medieval Court. The 1950s saw the small beginnings of a reaction against the condemnation of all that the Victorian architects, including Burges, had produced. John Steegman's pioneering study, ''Consort of Taste'' (re-issued in 1970 as ''Victorian Taste'', with a foreword by Pevsner), was published in 1950 and began a slow turn in the tide of opinion "towards a more serious and sympathetic assessment." The exhibition of Victorian and Edwardian Decorative Arts held at the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
in 1952 included five pieces of his furniture and four examples of his metalwork. This was followed by the foundation of the Victorian Society in 1958. ''Victorian Architecture'', a collection of essays edited by Peter Ferriday and published in 1963, contained an article on him by Charles Handley-Read, perhaps the first serious scholar of Burges. Handley-Read took a measured view of Burges's work writing that, "as a designer, he (was) apt to be aggressive rather than charming", but he was in no doubt of Burges's significance, writing of his best works as "indispensable examples of 'Victorian Conservanda'." The last thirty years, however, have seen a significant revival of interest. Burges's rehabilitation can be dated to 1981, the centenary of his death, when a major exhibition on his life and works was held, firstly at the
National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff ( cy, Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Caerdydd) is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Gov ...
, until October 1981, and then at the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London, from November 1981 to January 1982. The catalogue to that exhibition, entitled ''The Strange Genius of William Burges'', was edited by J. Mordaunt Crook. A much smaller exhibition of his work was also held at the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery in Cork. In the same year, the only full study of Burges, Crook's ''William Burges and the High Victorian Dream'', was published. In the dedication to that volume, "In Mem. C.H.-R", Crook acknowledges his debt to Charles Handley-Read, whose notes on Burges Crook inherited following Handley-Read's suicide. A revised edition was published in February 2013. Other sources include articles on Cardiff Castle and Castle Coch in Mark Girouard's ''The Victorian Country House.'' ''The Buildings of England'', ''The Buildings of Wales'', ''The Buildings of Scotland'' and ''The Buildings of Ireland'' series provide comprehensive coverage of Burges's works by county, although in the last instance it is not yet complete. The former curator of Cardiff Castle, Matthew Williams, has also written a number of book and articles on Burges and the third Marquess of Bute. ''The Cathedral of Saint Fin Barre at Cork'', by David Lawrence and Ann Wilson, covers Burges's work in Ireland.


List of works

The chronological list of Burges's major buildings is believed to be complete, although some minor works, or minimal additions to pre-existing structures, have not been included. The list of furniture and other works is selective. No listing is given of his extensive creations of jewellery, metalwork and stained glass. Crook has a comprehensive, chronological, appendix of Burges's work with indications as to whether the work is still in situ, was never executed, has been removed elsewhere, has been demolished or where the present location is unknown.


Buildings

* Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire 1855–59 – Chapter House restoration *
Treverbyn Vean Treverbyn Vean is a 19th-century mansion in St Neot, Cornwall. Its exterior was designed by George Gilbert Scott and its interior by William Burges, two of the major architects of the Gothic Revival. The house is a Grade II* listed building. It r ...
, Cornwall, 1858–62 – decoration and fittings for Col. C L Somers Cocks. Since altered * Gayhurst House, Buckinghamshire, 1858–65 – alterations for Lord Carrington * Bewholme Vicarage, East Riding of Yorkshire, 1859 – commission for an unknown client * Maison Dieu, Dover and Town Hall, 1859–75 – alterations and extensions *
Waltham Abbey Waltham Abbey is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and ...
, 1859–77 – restoration * Elizabeth Almshouses and Chapel,
Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...
, Sussex 1860 – for his father, Alfred, who founded the charity * The Old School House,
Winchfield Winchfield is a small village in the Hart District of Hampshire in the South-East of England. It is situated south-west of Hartley Wintney, east of Basingstoke, north-east of Odiham and west of London. It is connected to London Waterloo a ...
, Hampshire, 1860–61 *
All Saints Church, Fleet All Saints' Church is the Anglican parish church of the town of Fleet in the county of Hampshire, England. It is notable for its architect, William Burges and was constructed 1861–2. History and description The church was designed by Burges an ...
, Hampshire, 1860–62 *
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra) is a Gothic Revival three-spire Church of Ireland cathedral in the city of Cork. It is located on the south bank of the River Lee and dedicated to Finbarr of Cork, patron saint of ...
, Cork, Ireland, 1863–1904 * Yorke Almshouses, Gloucestershire, 1863–64 * Church of St James, Winscombe, Somerset, 1863–64, chancel restoration and stained glass for the Rev. J. A. Yatman * Church of St Helen, Kilnsea,
East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...
, 1864–65, partly paid for by Burges's father, Alfred * Church of St Mary, Forthampton, Gloucestershire, 1864–66, chancel restoration and fittings for the Yorke family * St Anne's Court, Soho, 1864–66 – model lodgings for Lachlan Mackintosh Rate. Since demolished. * Church of St Nicholas, Charlwood, Surrey, 1864–67 * Worcester College, Oxford, 1864–69 – redecoration of the Chapel and 1873–79 – redecoration of the Hall. The latter is substantially altered with little of Burges's work remaining, the former complete. * Oakwood Hall, Bingley, Yorkshire, 1864–65 – internal decoration, in collaboration with
Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...
. Since altered * Church of St Peter, Carrigrohane, County Cork, Ireland 1865 – extensions for the Reverend Robert Gregg * Skilbeck's Warehouse, London, 1865–66 – remodelling of a drysalter's warehouse on Upper Thames Street. Since demolished * Holy Trinity Church Templebreedy,
Crosshaven Crosshaven () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood. Originally a fishing village, from the 19th century, the economy of the area became more re ...
, County Cork, Ireland, 1866–68 * Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Darenth,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, 1866–68 – restoration for the Reverend R P Coates * Cardiff Castle, Glamorgan, 1866–1928 – reconstruction and restoration for Lord Bute * St Michael and All Angels Church, Lowfield Heath, Sussex, 1867–68 *
Knightshayes Court Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house o ...
, Tiverton, Devon, 1867–74 *
St Michael's Church, Brighton St. Michael's Church (in full, St. Michael and All Angels Church) is an Anglican church in Brighton, England, dating from the mid-Victorian era. Located on Victoria Road in the Montpelier area, to the east of Montpelier Road, it is one of the ...
, Sussex, 1868 – designs for extensions, 1892–99 – designs executed * Church of St John the Baptist, Outwood, Surrey, 1869 * Milton Court, Dorking, Surrey, 1869–80 – refurbishment for Lachlan Mackintosh Rate * Chevithorne Vicarage, Chevithorne, Devon, 1870–71 – for Sir John Heathcoat-Amory * Church of Christ the Consoler at Skelton-on-Ure, Yorkshire, 1870–76 – memorial church for Lady Mary Vyner * St Mary's, Studley Royal, near
Fountains Abbey Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 40 ...
, Yorkshire, 1870–78 – memorial church and associated Choristers House for Lord Ripon * Park House, Cardiff, 1871–80 – for Lord Bute's chief engineer, James McConnochie and previously known as McConnochie House * Speech Room, Harrow School, 1871–77 * Church of All Saints, Murston, Kent, 1872–73 * St Faith's, Stoke Newington, London, 1872–73 – badly damaged by a flying bomb in 1944 and since demolished *
Castell Coch (; ) is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff G ...
, Glamorgan, 1872–91 – recreation for Lord Bute * The Choristers House, St Mary's, Studley Royal,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
, 1873 – estate cottage * Mount Stuart House
Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...
, oratory, 1873–75 – for Lord Bute * Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, United States, 1873–82 – Seabury, Northam and Jarvis Halls, collectively the Long Walk * The Tower House, Melbury Road, Kensington, 1875–81 – for himself * Church of St John, Cumnock, 1878–80 – completed after Burges's death * Anglican Church, Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic, 1879 – memorial church for Mrs Anna Scott.


Unexecuted designs

*
Lille Cathedral Lille Cathedral, the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Treille (french: Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-la-Treille de Lille), is a Roman Catholic church and basilica in Lille, France, and the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Lille. An example of G ...
, 1856 * St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide, 1856 * Colombo Cathedral, Ceylon *
Crimea Memorial Church The Crimea Memorial Church, also known as ''Christ Church'', is a Church of England church in the Beyoglu - Taksim district of Istanbul, Turkey. History The current church was built on land donated by Sultan Abdulmecid and was constructed betwe ...
, 1856–61 * St John's Cathedral, Brisbane, 1859 * Florence Cathedral, West front, 1862 * Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art,
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
1865–66 *
Royal Courts of Justice The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
, London, 1866–67 * St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1870–77 – interior decoration * Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1870 & 1872 * Rothesay Castle, Isle of Bute, 1872 - mostly unexecuted scheme for a full reconstruction *
St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh (Episcopal) The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly known as St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Anglican Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. Its foundation stone was laid in Palmerston Place, in the city's ...
, Edinburgh, 1873 * Lahore Cathedral, 1878 * Truro Cathedral, 1878


Major pieces of furniture with locations

* The Yatman cabinet, 1858 – the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
* St. Bacchus sideboard, 1858 –
Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...
* The Architecture cabinet, 1859 –
National Museum Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
* The Mirrored buffet, 1859 – present location unknown * Sideboard and wine cabinet, 1859 – the Art Institute of Chicago * Wines and Beers sideboard, 1859 –
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
* The
Great Bookcase The Great Bookcase is a large piece of painted furniture designed by the English architect and designer William Burges.Dakers 1999, p. 175. The bookcase is high and wide. It has been described as "the most important example of Victorian painte ...
, 1859–62 – Ashmolean Museum * Font at St Peter's Church, Draycott, Somerset, 1861 – controversially offered up for sale by Bath & Wells in 2007, but retained on appeal * Taylor bookcase, 1862 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
* Narcissus washstand, 1865 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
* The Red Bed, 1865 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
* Crocker dressing table, 1867 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
* The Clock cabinet, 1867 – Manchester City Art Gallery * Zodiac settle, 1869–70 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
, purchased by the museum in February 2011 * Nursery wardrobe, 1875 –
The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is the principal art gallery and museum in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, run by Bedford Borough Council and the trustees of the Cecil Higgins Collection. Overview The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum is in the Ca ...
* The 'Golden' bed, 1879 –
Knightshayes Court Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house o ...
, Devon on loan from the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
* Philosophy cabinet, 1878–79 – designed for the guest bedroom at The Tower House, now in a private collection


Footnotes


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burges, William 1827 births 1881 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from London Architects of cathedrals Artists from London Artists' Rifles soldiers Associates of the Royal Academy Burials at West Norwood Cemetery English ecclesiastical architects English furniture designers English stained glass artists and manufacturers Fellows of King's College London Gothic Revival architects People educated at King's College School, London People of the Victorian era Metalworkers