St Paul's Cathedral

Model of medieval St Paul’s Cathedral. London’s Anglo-Saxon cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1087. Building of the new Norman cathedral was slow and it was not dedicated until 1241, after which work began almost immediately on extending the east end in the new Gothic style. When it was completed in the 1320s, the cathedral was the largest building in England. Its spire was more than 120 metres (400 feet) high.
This is one of the series of models of historic London buildings made in the early 1900s by John B Thorp (1862-1939) and exhibited at the White City and other international exhibitions, before being purchased in 1912 for the new London Museum Thorp was the founder of the famous architectural model makers Thorp Modelmakers, and built models for many leading architects in the late 19th and early 20th century. The model is of wood and card, at a scale of 1/8 inch to a foot (1:96). It is based on Thorp's own research and (although some features are debatable) an excellent reconstruction of the likely appearance of the cathedral before the loss of its spire in 1561 and its final destruction in the Great Fire.