Unlike many Victorian architects, his overall output was small. He was only in practice for about 18 years, dying at the age of 54, and as both artist and architect he was at his best when given free reign (and purse!) to design churches or country houses as total concepts inside and out. There is clear evidence in his major commissions that he gave his personal attention to every aspect of these designs and it is for the originality, intricacy and inventiveness of his exquisite interior detailing that he is most noted.

Churches
St Mary's Church on Lord Ripon's Studley estate in North Yorkshire is Burges at his best. Completed in 1878, it is attractively situated above the mid 18th century water gardens of the Studley estate and located to form the visual stop to an avenue of trees at the other end of which, two miles away, one can see Ripon Cathedral. St Mary's is an excellent illustration of Burges's total approach to design. The church is built in limestone with marble detailing in a mixture of French and English Gothic, the former predominating on the exterior. The steeple is reminiscent of that at Salisbury Cathedral and the quality of the detailing is outstanding. The rose window is a typical Burges feature as is the elaborate decoration of the west doorway arch, but the high point of the exterior of the building is the three tabernacles in the eastern gable - the central one depicting the crucifixion. Inside, one enters a preRaphelite dream world where, such was his fascination with elaborate detail, Burgess took the trouble to sketch a bird on the chancel arch for the benefit of the stone mason.. The painted interior with its gilding, carving and flamboyant pinks, blues and greens is highly reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts depictions of medieval religious subjects and the elaborate and colourful iconography that once decorated early churches. Its vitality builds up from the south door to the full splendour of the highly painted and decorated barrel vault of the choir in the east. St Mary's, perhaps his most successful practical building, is basically unaltered and enables us to fully appreciate today Burges's work.

The church of Christ the Consoler at Skelton was built at the same time on an adjacent estate, in the grounds of Newby Hall. It has a less formal almost pastoral setting compared to St. Mary's. Although there are many differences in detail between the two churches, the general plan form and the quality of the design is very similar. Inside the church, the pulpit of red and white marble, the organ loft, the reredos with carvings of the magi and the chequered small red and yellow tiles are particularly noticeable. Burges's work here also included the design of the altar plate. St Mary's and Christ the Consoler are excellent examples of Burges's ecclesiastical commissions and they illustrate both the quality and totality of his finest work.

Country Houses
A number of buildings for aristocratic patrons illustrate what may be called "the Burges experience". Knightshayes Devon, begun in 1869 was structurally complete in 1874 but by this time Burges was at odds with the Heathcoat Amory family over the decoration of the interior. The abundance and elaboration of the Pre-Raphaelite dream world designs were just too much! In fact John Crace, an architectural decorator, completed the interior of the building in a rather more subdued manner. What remains of the original plan and what has been restored does however give an excellent indication of the totality of Burges's Country House architecture at its best. The Great Hall is a Gothic experience not to be missed.

Burges's main project for Lord Carrington, his first patron, was in the 1860s at Gayhurst and included further extensions to the main range of buildings and elaborate interior design. The most noteworthy building is an exten sion of the servants' wing and the servants' lavatory and illustrates the Burges approach to what would (to most 19th century aristocrats and their architects) have been regarded as a necessary adjunct, built as cheaply as possible and concealed from view. Today the servants' lavatory still stands out as a bold - and humorous - later extension to the original Elizabethan complex. Its elaborate medieval chapter-house design with high dormer gables and lantern is based on the Abbot's Kitchen at Glastonbury.

Castell Coch represents an in situ 19th century reconstruction for the wealthy Marquis of Bute, of a mediaeval castle in a wooded glade near Cardiff. Approaching the site is like entering a film set or taking part in the pantomime 'Sleeping Beauty'. The exterior has a working portcullis and drawbridge and the interior is a rich feast of decoration and illusion including scenes from Aesop's fables decorating the walls. The Earl of Bute was a committed Gothicist himself and clearly must have been able to withstand the fantastical bed and bedroom Burges designed for him! He was also the one patron who did not restrict Burges's wildest fancies and this is the Burges country house experience par excellence. It is worth pointing out, however, that the Marquis's main interest was in collaborating with Burges on the creation of Castell Coch. Once complete, he hardly ever used it.

Domestic architecture
The only example of Burges's designs for domestic architecture that demonstrate his conceptual approach is his own house, designed between 1875 and 1878, at what is now 29 Melbury Road, Kensington, where he was able to extend his commitment to the Gothic cause by dressing up in mediaevalstyle monk's robes! Set in a street of individual 'artistic' houses, the twostorey, asymmetrical composition, is built in red brick with stone dressings, a Cumberland green slate roof, mullion and transom windows, a porte cochere, attractive chimney stacks and decorative ridge tiling. The building is basically 'L' shaped and its chief feature, which serves as a focal point when walking along Melbury Road, is a circular turret with a conical slate roof that has led to it being known as The Tower House. Turrets are in fact significant features of Burges's designs. The rear elevation is equally as flamboyant as the front. The Tower House is a brick interpretation in suburban London of a French chateau and again it was a total concept in which the interior fittings and furnishings were all designed in the Gothic spirit. It very clearly showed that Burges was an interior designer at least as much as an architect. Apart from minor changes to some of its incidental features, the building itself is in its original condition. Sadly, many of the interior artefacts have been dispersed. I saw one recently, looking quite out of place in a poor quality late Victorian house in the country.

On grounds of cost, Burges's other major domestic designs lack the total approach to the interior and exterior of the building. The Vicarage for St Mary's Church is constructed of limestone with, unusually for this part of Yorkshire, a red tiled roof. it has three quite distinct linked elements. The central entrance is underneath a double-arched colonnade, above which are two decorated dormers. To the left is a typical Victorian Gothic gable at right angles to the main ridge. The ground floor windows have stone transoms and mullions; those at the first floor have mullions only. Both windows have trefoil heads and a string course above. The upper storey, in contrast to the rest of the building, is mock Tudor timber framing which is painted red and white. The rear of the building has even more variety and although (with one exception) all were built at the same time, it has the appearance of a series of sequential incidental extensions. The stables at Knightshayes, completed in 1871, is a similar type of building. Both show the quality which Burges could achieve when designing the exterior elevations of residential scale buildings that are clearly identified with his country house patrons. Internally in both cases, because less money was available, the buildings are relatively functional and the Gothic flights of fancy - the typical features of his churches and country houses - are missing.

Burges also designed a small number of very simple domestic buildings such as the vicarage at Chevithorne near Knightshayes and a cottage adjacent to the church of Christ the Consoler at Skelton. These demonstrate Burges's view that there are no bargains in architecture. Both lack the external flamboyant, asymmetrical approach typical of his buildings and the interiors are quite Spartan.

Conclusions
Burges was somewhat unusual as a 19th century architect in that today we would also regard him as an interior designer. Indeed, it could be argued that although obviously a good architect, artistic design is where his greatest talent lay. His greatest works were carried out either directly for rich patrons in their own country houses or in churches on their estates. These are complete and very high quality examples of the Victorian interpretation of the Gothic style. In these cases, Burges was a leader of artistic fashion and these buildings will stand comparison with the work of any Victorian Gothic revival architect. With Burges's major works, there is no doubt about who designed them!

With the exception of his own house, his domestic scale architecture on the other hand was much less of a total composition. The smaller houses, in particular, are not of the same overall quality as his churches and country house designs. The patron was much less interested in them, Burges probably did not spend the same amount of time on them and they may well have had much more input from other members of his office

Tailpiece
To see Burges's architecture at its best, St Mary's at Studley is a must. For the Burges experience - one to rival Disneyworld -visit Castell Coch - but take a tranquilliser before you go!