Augustus Pugin, in full Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, was an English architect, designer and writer, born in 1812 and died in 1852, who became the most influential champion of the Gothic Revival in Victorian Britain. He is best known for the richly detailed interiors of the Palace of Westminster, designed in collaboration with Sir Charles Barry.
The son of the French-born architectural draughtsman Augustus Charles Pugin, he converted to Roman Catholicism and believed that Gothic was the only truly Christian architecture. His books Contrasts and The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture argued for honest construction and ornament that expressed a building's structure, ideas that later shaped the Arts and Crafts movement. He designed numerous churches, including St Giles' at Cheadle in Staffordshire, and his own house, The Grange at Ramsgate. Pugin produced designs for furniture, metalwork, stained glass, textiles, wallpaper and tiles, working closely with manufacturers such as John Hardman of Birmingham, Minton and the decorator John Gregory Crace, and his Medieval Court was a highlight of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Furniture and objects securely attributed to him are rare, and provenance is crucial to their value.
