Decimus Burton

Decimus Burton was one of the foremost English architects and urban designers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Regency styles. He was accomplished also in the cottage orné, picturesque and neogothic styles. He was a founding fellow and, later, vice-president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and architect to the Royal Botanic Society from 1840 and an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, whose club premises he designed and which the company of father, James Burton, the pre-eminent property developer of Georgian London, built. Modern architectural historians Guy Williams (1990) and Dana Arnold (2004) contend that Burton's contribution to architecture has been underestimated: as a consequence of the misattribution to John Nash of many of his works; of his vituperation by his neo-gothic rival, Augustus Pugin; and of the consequent retention of his archives by his family.