[1] Preliminary design for buildings published in 1788 (pl. 43)

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Sir John Soane office drawings: the drawings of Sir John Soane and the office of Sir John Soane
- Public buildings
  - Hellesdon Bridge, near Norwich, Norfolk: unexecuted design, 1785 (1)

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Reference number

SM 79/1/5 recto & verso

Purpose

[1] Preliminary design for buildings published in 1788 (pl. 43)

Aspect

Plan, elevation and section of buildings. (recto) Half-plan of Brick wall and elevation of bridge (verso) copy of a letter, see below

Scale

bar scale of 3/16 in to 1 ft

Inscribed

Hellesdon Bridge, labelled High Water, Low Water, old Pier, Spur stone, Road, Brick (3 times), Stone and some dimensions given and (verso) copy of a letter viz. Margaret Street. Feb^y7^th1785 / Dear Sir / I have enclosed you a Sketch for a new Bridge at Hellesdon / in which I have studied Economy & Durability to the utmost extent of / my abilities, it consi[s]ts of Iron, Stone & Brick & although a Bridge of / Wood costs less at first, yet the frequent repairs that unavoidably must / occur would in a very short time make it more expensive than that / I have the pleasure to recommend with sincere wishes to make myself / useful to the Corporation of Norwich / I am Sir / Your Obed^tServ^t / JS / I think from a general Estimate / that the enclosed Design will cost / about £1100 / A Copy

Signed and dated

29-01-1785
Jan: 29: 1785 and (verso) Feb^y7^th1785

Medium and dimensions

Pen, pencil on laid paper with 3 fold marks (449 x 590)

Hand

Soane, (verso) Soane office clerk ?

Watermark

J Whatman, fleur-de-lis above cartouche with bar and below, ornate W

Level

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk

Sir John Soane's collection includes some 30,000 architectural, design and topographical drawings which is a very important resource for scholars worldwide. His was the first architect’s collection to attempt to preserve the best in design for the architectural profession in the future, and it did so by assembling as exemplars surviving drawings by great Renaissance masters and by the leading architects in Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries and his near contemporaries such as Sir William Chambers, Robert Adam and George Dance the Younger. These drawings sit side by side with 9,000 drawings in Soane’s own hand or those of the pupils in his office, covering his early work as a student, his time in Italy and the drawings produced in the course of his architectural practice from 1780 until the 1830s.

Browse (via the vertical menu to the left) and search results for Drawings include a mixture of Concise catalogue records – drawn from an outline list of the collection – and fuller records where drawings have been catalogued in more detail (an ongoing process).