Decimus Burton

Decimus Burton
painted by Thomas Lawrence
Born	30 September 1800(1800-09-30) North House, Southampton Terrace, Bloomsbury, London
Died	14 December 1881(1881-12-14) 1 Gloucester Houses, Hyde Park, London
Nationality	English
Work
Buildings	Palm House & Temperate HouseRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was a prolific English architect and garden designer, He is particularly associated with projects in the classical style in London parks, including buildings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and London Zoo, and with the layout and architecture of the seaside towns of Fleetwood and St Leonards-on-Sea and of Tunbridge Wells.

Life

Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was the son of the architect James Burton. His first name, from the Latin for 'tenth', denoted his position as the tenth child in his family.

After attending Tonbridge School and then spending a few years in Royal Academy Schools, Burton initially trained in the architectural and building practice run by his father James Burton (1761–1837), and then with John Nash for whom he elaborated on the designs of Cornwall Terrace, facing London's Regent's Park. His first major project (1823) was nearby: an enormous domed exhibition hall, the Colosseum. ( It was demolished in 1875 and the site is now occupied by the Royal College of Physicians). After this, he was appointed to design the gardens and buildings at the adjacent new London Zoo including the llama building (1828), complete with clock tower,and the Giraffe House (1834).

In 1831, Burton designed the Beulah Spa Hotel (demolished c1935), a spa and pleasure gardens in Croydon, a borough of metropolitan London. Its official title was The Royal Beulah Spa and Gardens. It became a popular society venue attracting large crowds to its fêtes. One widely publicized event was a "Grand Scottish Fete" on 16th September 1834 "with a tightrope performance by Pablo Fanque, the black circus performer who would later dominate the Victorian circus and achieve immortality in The Beatles song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! The spa closed in 1856 soon after the opening nearby of The Crystal Palace.

Burton was responsible for planning the lay-out of Hyde Park (1825), and, at its south-east corner (Hyde Park Corner), designed the triumphal arch, the Wellington or Constitution Arch, to form the main western entrance to St. James's Park and Green Park. The arch was designed as a memorial to the Duke of Wellington and originally provided a grand entrance to London. Originally the arch was topped with an equestrian statue of the Duke but it was replaced with the current work, The Quadriga (1912) by Adrian Jones.

Burton had a 30-year association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, starting initially with the layout of gardens and paths before moving on to major buildings. With iron founder Richard Turner, he designed the glass and iron Palm House at Kew (1844–1848); at the time, this greenhouse was the largest in the world at 363 ft long (111 m), 100 ft wide (30 m) and 66 ft high (20 m). He then designed the even larger Temperate House, but did not live to see the project completed: although a section opened in 1863, lack of funds meant it was not finally completed until 1898. Other projects at Kew included the Victoria Gate (1848) and the Water Lily House (1852).

The other major concentration of Burton’s work is at Fleetwood on the Lancashire coast. Burton's work with his father on the East Sussex town of St Leonards-on-Sea (1827–1837) had impressed wealthy landowner and fellow Atheneaum Club member Sir Peter Hesketh Fleetwood who commissioned Burton to lay out his new port and seaside resort. Burton's buildings include the North Euston Hotel, Pharos Lighthouse and Beach Lighthouse, Queen's Terrace, St Peter's Church, the Town Hall and his own house on Dock Street (where he lived until 1844).

Death

Decimus Burton retired in 1869, died in December 1881 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

List of architectural works

• The Holme, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London (1818)
• Grove House, Holford House and Winfield House villas, Regent's Park, London (1822–1825)
• Coliseum, Regents Park, London (1823–27) demolished 1875
• Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, London (1823)
• Holwood House, Kent (1823-1826 – now a Grade II listed building)
• Hyde Park Screen, London (1825)
• Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner, London (1826–28)
• London Zoo, various buildings (1826–28) and (1831–34); surviving buildings include the Giraffe House, the Camel House, the Raven Cage and the tunnel under the Outer Circle, connecting the two parts of the zoo.
• Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, London (1827)
• Holy Trinity Church, Tunbridge Wells, Kent (1827–1829)
• Calverley Estate (Calverley House is now a hotel), Tunbridge Wells (1828)
• The Geological Society's apartments at Somerset House, London (1828)
• Athenaeum gentlemen's club, Waterloo Place/Pall Mall, London (1828–1830)
• Holy Trinity Church, Tunbridge Wells (1829)
• Burrswood Hospital, Tunbridge Wells (1830s)
• Oaklands Park, Sedlescombe, East Sussex (1930)
• St. Peter's Church, Southborough, Kent (1830) altered in the 1880s
• Tepid spa pool building, Bath (1830) demolished
• Bentham Hill House, Southborough, Kent (1830–32) a small country house in Deveyesque mode for Alexandre Pott, now converted into flats
• Charing Cross Hospital, London (1831–39)
• St. Mary's Church, Riverhead, Kent (1831)
• Beulah Spa, Upper Norwood, south London (1831)
• Adelaide Crescent, Hove (1831) only numbers 1-10 were built, the remainder was completed from 1850 to much grander design
• Stockgrove House, Buckinghamshire/Bedfordshire border (1831) demolished circa 1928
• Calverley Park Crescent, Tunbridge Wells (c.1833)
• St Mary's Church, Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex (1836-8)
• The Great Conservatory at Chatsworth, Derbyshire with Joseph Paxton (1836–1840) demolished 1920
• Holy Trinity Church, Eastbourne (1837-9) later extended
• Bay House (originally Ashburton House), Gosport, Hampshire (1838)
• St. Augustine's Church, Flimwell (1839)
• The Beach Lighthouse, Fleetwood (1839–40)
• Grimston Park, near Tadcaster, Yorkshire (1839–40)
• St Peter's Church, Fleetwood (1839–41)
• Pharos Lighthouse, Fleetwood (1840)
• Wick Hall, Hove, East Sussex (1840) (Demolished 1936)
• Phoenix Park in Dublin (1840)
• The North Euston Hotel, Fleetwood (1841–42)
• Devonshire House, London, added portico and remodelled the hall and staircase (1843) demolished
• The Palm House, Kew Gardens with Richard Turner (1844)
• The library, 18 Hyde Park Gardens (c.1844)
• Lower Pleasure Gardens, Bournemouth, Dorset (1840s)
• The main entrance gates, Kew Gardens, Surrey (1848)
• St Mary’s church, Bradford Peverell, Dorset (1850)
• Oriental Club, additions (1851)
• West Marina, The Lawn, and Uplands, at St Leonards (1850s)
• Grammar School, Retford, Nottinghamshire (1855–1857)
• Sennowe Hall, Norfolk extended (1855–56) remodelled 1908 very little of Burton's work survives
• The Museum, Kew Gardens, Surrey (1857) extended 1881
• The Temperate House, Kew Gardens, Surrey (1859–1863) the flanking wings part of Burton's design were only added in (1897–98)
• Vicarage, Isleworth, Middlesex, alterations (1865)

Gallery

• 

  The Holme, Regent's Park "If you want a definition of western civilization in a single view, then here it is." Ian Nairn 1818

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  Holford House, Regent's Park 1822-1825

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  Coliseum, Regent's Park, London 1823-27 demolished

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  Screen, Hyde Park Corner 1825

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  Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner 1826-28

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  The Staircase, The Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London 1828-1830

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  The Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, London 1828-1830

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  Adelaide Crescent, Hove, Brighton, Burton's houses are on the left 1831

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  Charing Cross Hospital, now police station 1831-39

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  The Monkey House, London Zoo c.1830

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  The Camel House, London Zoo c.1830

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  The Giraffe House, London Zoo 1834

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  St Mary's Church, Goring-by-Sea 1836-38

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  Great Conservatory, Chatsworth House, with Joseph Paxton, 1836-1840 demolished

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  Grimston Park, Yorkshire 1839-40

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  Beach Lighthouse, Fleetwood 1839-40

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  St. Peter's Church, Fleetwood 1839-41

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  Pharos Lighthouse, Fleetwood 1840

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  North Euston Hotel, Fleetwood 1841-42

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  The Palm House, Kew Gardens, London with Richard Turner 1844

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  The Museum, Kew Gardens 1857

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  The Temperate House, Kew Gardens, London 1859-1863

External links

• http://www.1066.net/burtons/intro.htm – Burton St Leonards Society
• http://www.castlehillsberwick.com/burtonexhibition/index.htm