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South front, Burghley House
Drawing: unknown artist (c.1580)
Source: RIBA British Architectural Library Drawings & Archives Collection

We often wonder what motivated people to create great buildings. One of the best ways to understand this is to look at design drawings, but sadly very few survive. This drawing of Burghley House’s south front, from around 1575, offers a rare opportunity to enter a Tudor patron’s mind. And Burghley’s builder, William Cecil, was no ordinary patron, as this drawing reveals.

Symmetry is a central consideration of this design, so too is fenestration – there is as much window as wall. The central bay displays this most obviously, looking like an enlarged oriel window, similar to those at Thornbury Castle (c. 1509-20). The long and low front is made up of seven sections. These appear clumsily stuck together, most obviously the high corner towers, and attempts to add perspective have only increased this effect. The overall impression is of a building of great size and cost, if unsophisticated: further discussion between architect-masons and patron is needed.

This provisional design should be compared with Richardson’s engraving of the finished house. Somehow, from this basic drawing, such brilliant architecture could emerge. Clearly Cecil and his masons had great vision.