The BBC has researched some of the United Kingdom’s most ambitious and enormous architectural projects that never came to fruition. They range from cathedrals to pyramid mausoleums, all of which failed despite the best efforts of their enthusiastic designers.

The article includes fascinating stories about the five projects. For example, architect Inigo Jones designed a Whitehall Palace that was supposed to outstrip Buckingham Palace. He even visited King Charles I, who was in jail preceding his decapitation, to complete the design of the mammoth palace. The ensuing civil war and Cromwell's rise to power prevented the project from ever reaching completion.

Find the stories of unrealized architectural giants here.