The Extraordinary Records in the London Metropolitan Archives for the Rebuilding of St Paul’s Cathedral after the Great Fire
St Paul’s Cathedral is a familiar and much-loved feature of the London skyline, an instantly recognisable landmark. The story of the building of the cathedral after the Great Fire is well known and has often been retold. What is less well understood is that the process of rebuilding left behind one of the richest sets of documents in architectural history. As well as several hundred architectural drawings, there are over a hundred volumes of building accounts and contracts, as well as letters, receipts and other documents, together describing in great detail the building process, most of which are currently housed in the London Metropolitan Archives, on loan from the cathedral. This lecture explores those documents, their importance for understanding how we built in the past and some of the lessons we can learn for the future.
Dr James W P Campbell is the Reader in Architecture and Construction History at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Queens’ College Cambridge and of the Society of Antiquaries. The author of Building St Paul’s, and many academic papers on the cathedral, he has spent 25 years studying St Paul’s and its wider context.
Advance booking is essential. Please book your place through Eventbrite http://tinyurl.com/AfLevents or by telephoning Alex Fisher (AfL Secretary) on 020 7594 8818.
Free for AfL members, £6 for non-members. Refreshments provided.
Thursday 4th October 2018: 18.00 – 19.30 (doors open at 17.30)
London Metropolitan Archives, Huntley Room, 40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB