Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman Revival, Greek Revival, Georgian neoclassical and Regency styles. He was a founding fellow and vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and from 1840 architect to the Royal Botanic Society, and an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, whose clubhouse he designed and which the company of his father, James Burton, the pre-eminent Georgian London property developer, built.

Burton's works are Hyde Park, London (including the gate or screen of Hyde Park Corner, the Wellington Arch, and the Gates); Green Park and St James's Park; Regent's Park (including Cornwall Terrace, York Terrace, Clarence Terrace, Chester Terrace, and the villas of the Inner Circle which include his own mansion, The Holme, and the original Winfield House); the enclosure of the forecourt of Buckingham Palace from which he had Nash's Marble Arch moved; the clubhouse of the Athenaeum Club, London; Carlton House Terrace; Spring Gardens in St. James's; and the Palm House and the Temperate House at Kew Gardens. Burton designed the seaside towns of St Leonards-on-Sea, Fleetwood, and Folkestone, and also Royal Tunbridge Wells. His Calverley Estate (of which only a small proportion survives) was highly commended.

Burton was a member of London high society during the Georgian era and during the Regency era. He had close friendships with Princess Victoria (the future Queen Victoria); the Duchess of Kent; William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, John Wilson Croker, and Sir Humphry Davy. The Burtons' London mansion, The Holme of Regent's Park, which was built by James's company to a design by his son Decimus Burton, was described by 20th century architectural critic Ian Nairn as 'a definition of Western civilization in a single view'. Burton also contributed to the design of their Tonbridge, Kent mansion, Mabledon.

Family

Decimus was the tenth child of James Burton Senior (1761 – 1837), who was the pre-eminent London property developer, and Elizabeth Westley (12 December 1761 – 14 January 1837), of Loughton, Essex, who was the daughter of John and Mary Westley.

On his father's side, Decimus's great-great grandparents were The Rev. James Haliburton (1681–1756) and Margaret Eliott, daughter of Sir William Eliott, 2nd Baronet, and aunt of George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield.

Decimus's siblings included the Egyptologist James Burton, and the physician Henry Burton. who was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society.

Education and architectural style

Decimus was born at the 'very comfortable and well staffed' North House in the newly built Southampton Terrace, Bloomsbury, London. and Decimus became acquainted with Nash through his father. Cornwall Terrace, York Terrace, Chester Terrace, Clarence Terrace, the villas along the Inner Circle, including The Holme and the London Colosseum according to Thomas Hornor's specifications.

Over his grave is a tapering sarcophagus of grey Cornish granite, on a stepped base, with a shallow pyramidal cover.

During 1882, traffic congestion at Hyde Park Corner motivated advocacy for Burton's triumphal arch to be moved to the top of Constitution Hill to create space for traffic. In response to this advocacy, Burton's great-nephew Francis Fearon compiled and published a pamphlet that advocated the removal of the Wellington statue from the arch in the event of the removal of the arch to another location: Fearon contended that the arch should be 'relieved once and for all of its unsightly load'. There is a photographic portrait of Decimus, taken in 1873, preserved at the club, An 1828 testimonial for his election to Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries described him as 'Architect and Gentleman, well versed in the History and Antiquaries of this Kingdom': he was elected FSA on 8 January 1829, during the tenure of W. R. Hamilton, Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, as vice-president.

Protégés

Burton trained his nephew, Henry Marley Burton (1821–1880)

Burton's legacy on either side of the Irish Sea endures. In April 2017 the Hearsum Collection, in collaboration with The Royal Parks and Ireland's Office of Public Works, mounted an exhibition at Dublin's Phoenix Park entitled Parks, Our Shared Heritage: The Phoenix Park, Dublin & The Royal Parks, London, demonstrating the historical links between Richmond Park (and other Royal Parks in London) and Phoenix Park. This exhibition was also displayed at the Mall Galleries in London in July and August 2017.

List of architectural projects

The projects are listed by county in alphabetical order. The list is based on the work of , and on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for "Burton, Decimus (1800–1881)", by Dana Arnold. Any other sources are specified individually.

Buckinghamshire

  • Stockgrove House, Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire border (1831) demolished circa 1928

Derbyshire

  • The Great Conservatory and the Home Farm at Chatsworth (1836–1840: Conservatory demolished circa 1920))

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File:North Street, St Leonards-on-Sea.jpg|North Street with Kenilworth Road in background

File:Steps to Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea.jpg|Steps down to Kings Road

File:Warrior square station.JPG|Warrior Square Station, St Leonard's-on-Sea

</gallery>

Central London

  • The Holme, Inner Circle, Regent's Park (1818). From 1818, Burton resided, with his father, at The Holme, Regent's Park, which has been described as 'one of the most desirable private homes in London',
  • The Geological Society's apartments at Somerset House (1828)
  • The former United Service Club, Pall Mall, London alterations.
  • The Oriental Club. The construction of additions to the club building that were designed by Decimus Burton, in 1853, was superintended, when eventually commenced, in 1871, by his nephew, Henry Marley Burton.
  • Kew Gardens. Layout of the gardens and paths, the Palm House (1844–48) (at the time the largest greenhouse in the world), Main Gate (1846, renamed The Elizabeth Gate in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II), the Water Lily House (1852), The Museum, (1857, extended 1881), the Temperate House, (1859–1863) (the flanking wings, also part of Burton's design, were not built until 1897–98)
  • Beulah Spa, Upper Norwood, London SE (1831). Burton landscaped the grounds and designed the buildings for the entrepreneur, John Davidson Smith. It became a popular society venue attracting large crowds to its fêtes.
  • Lay-out and gates, Dublin Zoo, Royal Irish Constabulary headquarters in Phoenix Park, Dublin (1840)
  • Queenstown, County Cork, the invitation to make improvements to the sea-side resort in the 1840s was made by George Brodrick, 5th Viscount Midleton
  • Martinstown House, County Kildare (1833)

<gallery>

File:Phoenix Park Monument.jpg|Phoenix Monument, Phoenix Park, Dublin

File:Dublin. Phoenix Park. Outside car (Jaunting car). Postcard, c. 1905.jpg|Dublin - Phoenix Park Jaunting car Postcard, c. 1905

File:Ireland - Dublin - Phoenix Park - Wellington Monument 2.jpg|Phoenix Park - Wellington Monument

File:Garda HQ.jpg|Garda (Police) HQ in Dublin's Phoenix Park

File:Dublin Zoo house.jpg|Dublin Zoo entrance lodge (1833)

File:Queenstown aka Cobh (8141082551).jpg|Queenstown, aka Cobh, c. 1890

File:Cobh (pronounced Cove) dominates Cork Harbour one of the largest natural harbours in the world (7359306822) (2).jpg|Cobh dominates Cork Harbour

</gallery>

thumb|centre|800px|[[Phoenix Park – Dublin, Republic of Ireland]]

See also

  • Richard Turner

References and notes

Sources

Further reading

  • Burton St Leonards Society
  • [https://sbpc.regencysociety.org/swiss-cottage-2/] at entrance to the now demolished neoclassical Wick House, built for Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
  • Decimus Burton video, recorded talk (30 minutes) from the Royal Institute of British Architects, 2012
  • Joint Heritage Exhibition, Dublin-London, 2017