Was it misfortune or carelessness?
James Wyatt was considered by George III to be ‘the first architect of the kingdom’, but he was also the unluckiest, or perhaps most careless, architect of his day. Fonthill Abbey, the Gothic extravaganza he designed for William Beckford, collapsed after just 25 years. He started building a new palace for the king at Kew,
![](https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/New-Wyatt-pic.jpg?w=440)