Pugin

Pugin needed railways so he could dash around the country designing gothic revival churches, paid for by industrial wealth.

British architecture: from Georgian to the present day 2011

Work on the limestone structure had begun 30 years before, under Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin, neither of whom lived to see their work through.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

Burned out and mad, Pugin died at The Grange overlooking the sea he loved and embraced by gothic design.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

Much of Pugin's brief life was taken up with the design of every last detail of the Palace of Westminster 1837-65, working with Charles Barry, the architect-in-charge.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

Pugin's writings inspired thinkers and architects from John Ruskin and William Morris to Le Corbusier.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

Key architect of the age: Augustus Pugin 1812-52Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was the driving force behind the Victorian gothic revival.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

In the 19th century Augustus Pugin, co-architect of the Houses of Parliament, declared gothic to be a morally superior style.

British architecture: from Georgian to the present day 2011

Pugin felt they could have done better, dismissing it as "all Grecian … Tudor details on a classic body".

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

By the time of his death, the devout Pugin had completed more than 100 Catholic churches.

Victorian and Edwardian buildings: examples from the era 2011

Pugin, Ruskin and William Morris defined the central argument and contradiction of Victorian architecture, which lasted until the 20th century.

British architecture: from Georgian to the present day 2011