Advance notice: Lutyen's Cathedral Model

Walker Art Gallery, 27 January - 22 April 2007

The stunning model of architect Sir Edwin Lutyens’ proposed Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral has been restored for display following a 13-year conservation project.

A Walker Art Gallery exhibition called 'The Cathedral That Never Was: Lutyens’ design for Liverpool'  features the huge model – one of the world’s great model buildings – plus related exhibits. It runs from 27 January to 22 April 2007. This is the first opportunity to see the model fully restored with Lutyens’ breathtaking interior.

Construction work on the full-sized cathedral started in 1933. Only the crypt of the vast building - rivalling St Peter’s in Rome - was completed before post war austerity and a shortage of funds stopped work. Building estimates rose from £3 million to £27 million.

The planned cathedral would have been built from pinkish-brown brick relieved by bands of silver-grey granite. The breathtaking edifice would have been crowned with an enormous 510 ft high dome – 60 ft higher than St Peter’s and more than twice the height of St Paul’s in London (250 ft). Instead, the present modernistic concrete Cathedral of Christ the King was opened on the Brownlow Hill site in 1967.

Conservators at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool worked between 1992 and 2005 restoring the wood, plaster and metal model. The magnificent construction is 11ft 9 inches wide, 17 ft long and 12 ft 6 inches high. The £500,000 project was supported by a major grant of £268,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as contributions from many individuals.  The model is on display in the Year of Heritage, Liverpool’s 800th anniversary, and is one of several exhibitions exploring the city’s history.

Julian Treuherz, National Museums Liverpool keeper of galleries and the curator of the exhibition, says:

 “This is one of the largest and most elaborate architectural models ever made. It gives a vivid idea of what the cathedral would have looked like, towering over the city’s skyline. If built, the cathedral would have been one of the greatest Catholic cathedrals in the world. Lutyens imagined it would take two centuries to be completed, like the medieval cathedrals. We are fortunate that, at least, we still have the model of what would have been Lutyens’ supreme creation. The restoration work is a tribute to the dedication and skills of our staff at the National Conservation Centre.” 

 
Chris Moseley, head of models conservation who led the project team, says:

“The model is the last of a long tradition of wooden cathedral models. Our craftsmen and women had to successfully re-discover lost techniques to breathe new life into this incredible example of the model-makers’ art.” 

 
In 1929 the Archbishop of Liverpool, Richard Downey, revived plans to build a Catholic Cathedral. Downey awarded the commission to Lutyens, who made numerous drawings. Both men visited Rome in 1933 and the cathedral design was blessed by the Pope.

Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869 – 1944), an Anglican, was the greatest British architect of the early 20th century. He made his name with a series of grand Arts and Crafts country houses. In his later work, from about 1912, he designed public and commercial buildings in a monumental classical style.

His most famous later buildings include the Viceroy’s Residence in New Delhi, the Cenotaph, Whitehall and the Memorial to the Missing, Thiepval, France. However, none of his other works matched the awe-inspiring Liverpool RC Cathedral for sheer scale and grandeur.

The model cathedral, made at the suggestion of Lutyens, is the most elaborate architectural model ever made in Britain, second only to the ‘Great Model’ of Sir Christopher Wren’s rejected design for St Paul’s. Its purpose was to demonstrate the design in three dimensions and to assist in fundraising. It was built by Thorp, the leading British firm of architectural model makers.

The model was shown to great acclaim at London’s Royal Academy in 1934. It was later shown in Dublin and at St George’s Hall, Liverpool, in 1935. Building work on the model took longer than expected and over-ran the budget. The interior was never finished. The Cathedral authorities refused Lutyens’ repeated requests for further funds to complete it.

The model was put into store where its condition deteriorated and it was presented to the Walker in 1975. The National Conservation Centre restoration has seen the interior of the East End and Sanctuary, originally left unfinished, completed according to Lutyens’ revised designs. Damaged and missing parts throughout have been repaired and replaced. The exterior colouring of the model has been lightly cleaned and retouched in places.

The model will be among the attractions at the new Museum of Liverpool opening in 2010.
I

Back to the top