Archive of 700 design drawings by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin relating to his collaboration with John Hardman & Co., Birmingham

For the past 40 years, in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, I have lived with Augustus Pugin’s interior designs for the Palace of Westminster. They are magnificent: Victorian Gothic Revival at its very finest. So, when the opportunity arose for Art Fund to support the V&A in acquiring a collection of 700 Pugin drawings, including quite a number that were preparatory for the work at Westminster, it was too good a chance to miss.   

The 700 drawings in the collection are all design drawings in pencil, pen and ink on paper. Some have an additional watercolour wash added. Some are annotated. Almost all of the drawings are by Pugin himself; there are a few that may well have been the work of John Hardman Powell, who was working with Pugin for many years.

They are drawings of candlesticks and light brackets, door locks and handles, firedogs and grates, candelabra, chandeliers, censers, picture frames, pinnacles, gables, altar crosses, communion rails, furniture, tombs, all kinds of architectural ironwork, and even an umbrella stand for the House of Commons. And they apply not only to work for the Palace of Westminster, but all over the country, from Ely Cathedral to Chirk Castle, including projects in Cambridgeshire, County Durham, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Newcastle, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Wrexham. Many of them are exquisitely drawn and the detail is fascinating. 

Pugin was the leading exponent of the Gothic Revival in Britain. In 1841 he published The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture, and the title tells you everything you need to know about the importance he attached to the architecture and design he was developing. He particularly sought to improve the quality of industrial design, working closely with ceramicists, metalworkers, stained-glass manufacturers, and furniture makers. He drove himself hard, taking on huge numbers of projects, and, indeed, drove himself to a breakdown and early death at the age of only 40.   

Unlike other major architects of his day, Pugin did not have a large office of draughtsmen but undertook virtually all of his drawings himself. This vast collection shows off his accomplished technique; it also reveals the close working relationship with John Hardman junior, who shared Pugin’s enthusiasm for the medieval age, and who worked both in metal and in stained glass. Together – led by Pugin – they created the Medieval Court at the Great Exhibition, a triumph. These are working drawings, and they show the wear and tear of use in the workshop, but they are of high quality, and they tell us a lot about Pugin’s working methods.   

There have hitherto been three major repositories of Pugin’s works: the V&A, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the Birmingham Archives. This new collection will greatly enhance the V&A’s holding, and the drawings will be able to be seen alongside many of Pugin’s items of furniture, metal fittings, crosses, alms dishes and candlesticks that the V&A also holds.

Seeing the drawings in close conjunction with some of the items themselves will be particularly special. Neither RIBA nor the Birmingham Archives was in a position to bid for this collection (or store it), so it is especially pleasing that it has now come to the V&A. The danger always was that it might have been split up and the drawings sold individually, which would have been disastrous.    

Pugin’s influence as an architect and designer has been powerful, and remains so to this day. Yes, sometimes his designs can be a bit overelaborate, but they are glorious, full of flourishes, and when seen as a whole they have an arresting beauty. The Gothic Revival that he led still has resonances today and, amongst other things, it helped to usher in the Arts and Crafts Movement. Keeping this wonderful collection of drawings together, and available to all in the V&A, was truly worthwhile.