|
Adelaide Crescent in Hove in the UK, is one of those beautifully proportioned classic Georgian crescents. It was named after Queen Adelaide - Wife of King William IV. It was where my now wife lived when she started a new job in Brighton.
At the beginning to Adelaide Crescent there was one of those heritage plaques explaining the history of Adelaide Crescent, together with some facts on its designer, Decimus Burton.
Decimus (Latin for tenth), is such a cool name. A great name for a child... to which my wife's consistent reply has only ever been:
"... no child of mine is going to be called Decimus ..."
So that's how this site got its name.
Some facts on Decimus Burton (1800-1881)...
- the Coliseum in Regent's Park, London
laying out Hyde Park, London.
- the arch on Constitution Hill (Hyde Park Corner), London.
- the first giraffe house at London Zoo.
- many of the original buildings in Kew Botanical Gardens, London - the most famous being the Palm House, Temperate House and Museum.
- Decimus' father James Burton (1761-1837), is credited with creating the town of St. Leonard's (near Hastings, East Sussex) as a seaside resort for the wealthy, between 1827 and 1837. Decimus Burton continued building in the 1850s and 60s.
- Phoenix Park and associated buildings in Dublin.
- a tree boll transporter still used today at Kew, based on two gun carriages.
Decimus Burton was noted both for his adherence to the classical tradition during the period of the Gothic Revival and for his interest in engineering.
His Palm House at Kew (1848) makes use of materials and construction methods subsequently used in the Crystal Palace.
Decimus Burton's works in the classical style include the Ionic screen at Hyde Park Corner of 1828 and the Athenaeum Club of 1830.
|
