The State Library Victoria has launched an appeal to preserve historic drawings of Melbourne’s St Paul’s Cathedral, dating as far back as 1878.
The collection of 154 plans by English architect William Butterfield range from small sketches to one-to-one architectural details that measure up to six metres long.
The State Library has called on the public to help raise funds for the conservational treatment of the significant drawings, with the aim of displaying them within the State Collection.
The plans were donated by the Dean of St. Paul’s in 1993 and 2014.
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State Library Victoria
Butterfield created the designs for Melbourne’s Gothic revival St Paul’s Cathedral from England without having seen the site on which it was to be built. These drawings were passed on to local builders in 1880.
The State Library was gifted the drawings by the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in two batches: the first in 1993 and the second in 2014. Director of Collections Jo Ritale said it is important to preserve the vision of Melbourne that was first conceived on the other side of the world.
“As custodians of Victoria’s social history, it is our responsibility to ensure the plans are conserved so that current and future generations of architects and builders can be inspired by their detail, scale, and design,” said Ritale.
Funds will be used to enable conservation efforts to preserve the drawings in the State Collection.
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State Library Victoria
Professor of Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh Alex Bremner said it is rare to find such a complete set of architectural drawings dating so far back.
“The fact that so many of the original drawings from this collection remain intact is a minor miracle,” said Bremner.
Click here to donate to the End of Financial Year Appeal to preserve William Butterfield’s original drawings that inspired a Melbourne landmark.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
