 Larger versions of these images are located at the foot of the page. Basic Biographical Details | Name: | William Burges | | Designation: | Architect | | Born: | 2 December 1827 | | Died: | 20 April 1881 | | Bio Notes: | William Burges was born in London on 2 December 1827, the eldest son of Alfred Burges, civil engineer and partner in the harbour and bridge building practice of Walker & Burges. From his earliest youth Burges was very short-sighted. He was educated at King's College School, London from 1839, his contemporaries there included Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Michael Rossetti. In 1893 he entered King's College proper to study construction but after a year he left to become an articled pupil of Edward Blore working on Buckingham Palace, Lambeth Palace and Glasgow Cathedral. When Blore retired in 1849 Burges moved to the office of Matthew Digby Wyatt, working on the Great Exhibtion of 1851 and assisting with two related boioks 'Metal work and its Artistic Design' and 'The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century', published in 1852 and 1853-54 respectively. But before these had appeared Burges had left in 1851 to become assistant to Henry Clutton, an older colleague in Blore's office. At Clutton's he was employed mainly on ecclesiastical and country house work, and assisted with his 'Remarks with illustrations on the Domestic Architecture of France' (1853). This Burges was particularly well equipped to do, having travelled intensively in France since 1849. Burges visited Italy in 1854, primarily for its decorative arts and together Clutton and Burges competed successfully for the new cathedral at Lille in 1855.
In May 1856 the partnership with Clutton ended in disagreement and Burges commenced independent practice at 15 Buckingham Street, Strand. Again he was successful at once, winning the competition for the Crimea memorial Church in 1856-57. As a result of a disagreement with the Committee, this remained on paper but his visit to Constantinople to lay the foundation stone was the origin of the Saracenic element in his work, and was followed by still more extensive travel in search of inspiration to Sicily, Spain and the Holy Land. Although he never went there the Islamic architecture of Cairo was a source of inspiration, as was Japanese art which he first saw at the International Exhibition of 1862.
In 1859 Burges designed the Anglican cathedral at Brisbane which remained on paper like the Crimea church, but in that same year he received his first country house commission, alterations and additions to Gayhurst. He was admitted FRIBA on 21 May 1860 and in that same year he carried out restoration work at Waltham Abbey. In 1863 he successfully competed for St Finbar's Cathedral, Cork, the design of which was later to influence his competition submission for St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh.
In 1864 (David Prout in the 'Dictionary of art') or 1865 (Crook in 'William Burges and the High Victorian Dream') Burges was introduced to John Patrick, 3rd Marquess of Bute, his father having been engineer for the Marquess's harbours at Cardiff. For Bute Burges reconstructed Cardiff Castle, rebuilt Castel Coch, designed the Cardiff house of his agent, James McConnachie, fitted up the original chapel at Mount Stuart and built the Roman Catholic Church at Cumnock, together with innumerable artefacts, to become a close family friend as well as architect, and travelled with him in Spain in 1874.
In 1880 Burges's health deteriorated, at least partly as a result of his bachelor lifestyle of smoking both tobacco and opium. A long ride in a dog-cart at Cardiff on 28 March 1881 brought about a chill which in turn led to him becoming semi-paralysed. He died at Tower House, Kensington, on 20 April 1881 and was buried at Norwood Cemetery in the tomb he had designed for his mother. His drawings were taken over by Richard Popplewell Pullan who had married his sister Mary and had his won practice, but the Butes found Pullan 'rather a brute' and he did not succeed in retaining the Butes as clients. | Private and Business Addresses| The following private or business addresses are associated with this architect: | | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes |  | Tower House, Kensington, London, England | Business | | 1891 | | | 15, Buckingham Stree, Strand, London, England | Business | May 1856 | | |
Employment and TrainingEmployees or Pupils
RIBARIBA Proposals
Buildings and Designs| This architect was involved with the following buildings or structures from the date specified (click on an item to view details): | | | Date started | Building name | Town, district or village | Island | City or county | Country | Notes | | 1868 | Cardiff Castle | | | Cardiff | Wales | Extensive remodelling | | 1869 | All Saints Episcopal Church | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | High Altar erected replacing simpler one by Rowand Anderson. (Burges's altar later replaced by Charles Kempe's). The Burges altar was modelled by Thomas Nicholls and coloured by Charles Campbell of Harland & Fisher. | | 1870 | All Saints Episcopal Church | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Reredos | | 1871 | Rothesay Castle | Rothesay | Bute | Bute | Scotland | Scheme fo rebuilding | | 1873 | Mount Stuart | Rothesay (near) | Bute | Bute | Scotland | Small room in North wing reconstructed as chapel oratory. Also detailed survey work for restoration. Paintings by Harland & Fisher Dec 1972-August 1873. | | 1873 | Mount Stuart | Rothesay (near) | Bute | Bute | Scotland | Dining room at Mount Stuart - burnt December 1877. Carver Thomas Nicholls and painting Campbell Smith & Co. | | 1873 | St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Competition design | | 1874 | St John's Episcopal Church, Dean Ramsay's monument | | | Edinburgh | Scotland | Proposed statue by John Steel under a canopy by Burges | | 1876 | Old Place of Mochrum | | | Wigtownshire | Scotland | May have advised Richard Park | | 1878 | St John's RC Church | Cumnock | | Ayrshire | Scotland | Original building |
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this architect: | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Burges, William | 1870 | Architectural Drawings 1883-1887 | | | | | Crook, J Mordaunt (ed) | | The Strange Genius of William Burges, 'Art Architect' 1827-1881 | | | | | DNB | | Dictionary of National Biography | | | | | Grove Dictionary of Art | | Grove Dictionary of Art | | | | | Handley-Read, C | 1963 | William Burges | | Vferriday, P (ed) Victorian Architecture | | | Pullan, Richard Popplewell | 1885 | The Designs of william Burges | | | | | Pullan, Richard Popplewell (ed.) | | The Architectural Designs of William Birges | | | | | Taylor, Nicholas and Symondson, Anthony | | Burges and Morris at Bingley | | Architectural Review (no date given in NMRS) | |
Periodical References| The following periodicals contain references to this architect: | | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | British Architect | 29 April 1881 | | | | | RIBA Transactions | between 1881 and 1882 | | | p17-30 | | RIBA Transactions | 1993 or 1994 | | | Article by George Aitchison |
Archive References| The following archives hold material relating to this architect: | | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | J M Crook | Abstract of diaries | | | | Mount Stuart | Bute Archives | | MSS | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Drawings Collection | | Drawings and notebooks | | Victoria & Albert Museum | Prints & drawings collection | | Drawings and estimate book |
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