George III was very unusual amongst British monarchs in that he received a formal training in architecture from his Tutor George Lewis Scott and the architect William Chambers. Various architectural drawings survive in his hand showing that he had learnt to compose plans and elevations in the classical manner of the day.
George came to the throne in 1760 and the following year married Princess Charlotte. The king, who was still based in the rambling old Tudor palace of St James’s, immediately commissioned his old tutor Chambers to design a new palace for them in the royal park at Richmond. At the same time he purchased the duke of Buckingham’s town House near St James’s as a retreat for his wife. Buckingham House was re-named the Queen’s House and became the private residence of the king, queen and their family while St. James’s remained the official state residence. William Chambers made extensive improvements to the old house at the cost of some £72,000. This included no less than four libraries including a great octagon library 42 feet in diameter.
Despite the fact that hundreds of drawings survive for a new palace at Richmond, none was ever built, perhaps because the project grew so large and elaborate that it could never be afforded. Another factor may have been the king’s indecision. What was built at Richmond was an observatory designed by Chambers for the king to observe the transit of Venus. Nearby, for Queen Charlotte a charming cottage orne was built in Kew Gardens that survives and can be visited.
In the 1790s the king decided to take up residence at Windsor Castle and in 1800 commissioned an extensive modernisation and rebuilding that continued for 14 years and cost around £150,000. His architect was James Wyatt whose task was to sweep away the baroque excesses of Charles II’s interiors and create a gothic-styled castle more suited to contemporary life. George was very involved in the detailed planning and execution of the works.
The King’s new enthusiasm for the gothic style re-ignited his ambition to build in Richmond and in 1801 work finally started on a palace there. The so-called castellated palace was built on the riverfront at Kew to the design of James Wyatt and a cost of some £100,000. This giant building, that looked like a toy fort with round towers at each corner, was finished but never fitted out and was eventually blown up by gunpowder, other methods of demolition proving too slow. It had never been inhabited by the royal family.
Today there are few remains of George III’s buildings as his son, George IV, rebuilt both Windsor and Buckingham House (Palace) sweeping away almost all his father’s works. Nevertheless, the records of the Georgian Office of Works show that he was obsessively involved in the details of his architectural commissions at a most interesting period that saw the birth of the gothic revival.