The Department's collections include architectural drawings of buildings and other structures, mainly in Mid and South Wales, together with some examples for sites outside Wales.
Most are technical drafts intended for use in civil construction, but include works of pictorial or topographical character such as perspective drawings featuring buildings amidst their environs. Houses, civic and religious buildings are well represented, most of the works being of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century origin, a period of considerable urban and industrial growth. Drawings of many ancient monuments derive from studies by local authorities and archaeological organisations. The drawings range from simple pencil sketches on tracing paper to beautifully executed watercolours. Some designs never materialised whilst others are valued for displaying buildings which no longer exist. They are held in a Core Collection and in some 50 other (mainly cartographic) collections where they normally constitute a minority category. Access is by card, schedule and data base catalogue.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS CORE COLLECTION
This collection exceeds 1000 items, some 90 per cent of which display Welsh architecture, the remainder mainly including drawings of unidentified buildings in Wales.
Houses, chapels, churches and civic buildings abound, the drawings predominantly being of nineteenth and early twentieth century origin.
Collections comprising the works of individual architectural practices include those of Bonsall of Aberystwyth (mainly houses, ca. 1930 - 60), Morgan of Carmarthen (houses and religious buildings, ca. 1880s - ca. 1920s) and Pace of York (the restoration and rebuilding of Llandaff Cathedral, 1949 - 75).
The majority of these collections, are composed in part of architectural drawings. They feature domestic, religious, public, industrial and commercial subjects from the early eighteenth century onwards, although nineteenth century works predominate in the following collections. Aberpergwm, Birmingham Corporation, Brecon County Council Quarter Sessions Records, Bute, Castle House - Aberystwyth, J. Coates Carter and John P. Seddon, Cilgerran, Cilgwyn, Crosswood / Lisburne, Gee and Matthews, Gogerddan, Gregynog Boxes and Rolls, Harpton Court, Harrison, A.J. Jenkins, D.T.M. Jones, O.T. Jones, William Jones, Llidiardau, Llwynybrain, Lovesgrove, Lead Mining Plans Core Collection, Montgomeryshire County Council, Mortimer, Nanteos, Ormathwaite, Pale Hall, Reverend John Parker, Picton Castle, Benjamin Piercy, Pigeon's Ford, Pitchford Hall, Powis Castle, Public Utilities Plans Core Collection, D. Roberts, Sales Catalogues, Slebech Hall, Tredegar, Trellech, Van Mines and Williams Wynn.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION
You should remember that architectural information may also be gleaned from other Departmental sources such as maps, pictures (paintings, drawings and prints) and photographs. Large-scale maps such as the Ordnance Survey 1:500, 1:1,250 and 1:2,500 series display the outline plans of buildings. So too may manuscript estate maps which occasionally include topographical drawings of a country seat. Our collection of topographical paintings and drawings embrace, for instance, detailed eighteenth century watercolours by John Ingleby showing houses and churches in North Wales and Shropshire, mid - twentieth century townscapes, country houses and chapels by Kenneth Rowntree and the recent paintings by Christopher Hall which capture the architecture of aging and often vanishing domestic and industrial buildings commonly associated with South Wales. Our collection of predominantly nineteenth century topographical prints typically include views of houses, castles, religious buildings and towns and our photographic collection - the largest in Wales - provides a wealth of architectural imagery including thematic albums and series of photographs and postcards of country houses and churches.
Other Library collections include those in our Department of Manuscripts and Records, where material particularly relates to the architecture of domestic and religious buildings but also antiquities and public buildings and utilities. Although this is predominantly text in the form of descriptions, documents, deeds, letters, lists and dissertations there are also examples of drawings, especially of domestic architecture. Printed and published texts, for example, on the history of architecture, bibliographies, biographies of architects and descriptions of individual buildings may be found in our Department of Printed Books.
REASONS FOR THE EXHIBITION AND ITS SCOPE
The above overview outlines a diverse and fascinating collection of architectural drawings, many of which have never before been viewed by the public or received any publicity. The exhibition aims to remedy this situation.
The exhibits have been selected to demonstrate the wide range of buildings and styles in the collection, from the unsophisticated and mundane to the exceptional with examples from many parts of Wales. Selection was also partially influenced by quality and visual impact.