Marvellous Melbourne plans preserved thanks to Victorian public support

The Library’s largest-ever conservation project has been completed, with the architectural drawings of St Paul’s Cathedral - close to the length of the MCG playing field - now preserved following four years of specialised work.  

The enormous project involved cleaning, repairing and reassembling 175 architectural drawings, some 480 square metres. 50 of the drawings were graded as complex due to their size with some exceeding 5 metres in length. 1250 hours of work was spent mending and stabilising the most complex drawings, with 1783 hours spent on the project in total (more than 234 working days).  

Dating from 1878, the drawings were prepared by renowned English architect William Butterfield, who envisioned the Gothic revival design of this now-iconic landmark. They range in size and scale from small, detailed designs of the Cathedral to enormous life-size renderings of key architectural features. 

The collection is extremely significant not only as a rare extensive set of architectural drawings from the late 19th century, but also for the stories told within the drawings themselves. The drawings include painstaking handwritten instructions from Butterfield, notes from the builders engaged to construct the Cathedral, and even boot prints from the workers who stood on top of the life size drawings as they attempted to realise the architect’s vision. 

Saving the architectural drawings was made possible thanks to the community's support of the Library's End of Financial Year Appeal in 2022. The conservation work means that the drawings are preserved for future generations and are now being digitised so that they can be viewed by people across Australia. Money raised by the appeal has enabled the digitisation work and will also go towards the purchase of specialised storage cabinets to safely house the largest of the plans including those measuring 4.5m x 4.6m and 5.2m x 2.1m.  

State Library Victoria Director of Collections and Chief Librarian Roxanne Missingham said she is delighted the drawings could be brought back to a stable condition.   

'We are incredibly fortunate to have a near-complete set of architectural drawings from the Marvellous Melbourne period, by such a prominent designer, and of such an iconic site – it's a very rare thing. We are even more fortunate that we have been able to bring them back to a stable condition, thanks to the support of the Victorian community. 

'As custodians of Victoria’s social history, we hope that they inspire historians, architects and builders in their detail, scale and design for generations to come.’