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Model-maker spends 14 years recreating Salisbury Cathedral using matchsticks – but is only half done
Barry King has spent 14 years building a matchstick replica of Salisbury Cathedral, aiming to set a world record for the largest matchstick model. The project is taking far longer than he first expected, with space, time and rising costs all slowing progress.
The 56-year-old has used 1.78 million matches and 150 litres of glue across about 6,000 hours of work, and hopes to use more than five million matches in total. He works on it around his full-time job and estimates it will take at least another 12 years; the completed model is planned to be 21ft long and 16ft wide. The current record is David Reynolds’s 2009 model of the Brent Bravo oil rig, made with four million matches.
In short
- Barry King has spent 14 years building a matchstick Salisbury Cathedral.
- The model has used 1.78 million matches so far.
- He expects at least 12 more years of work.
Explained simply
Salisbury Cathedral is a historic church in the city of Salisbury, in southern England. Its distinctive spire and large stone structure make it a challenging subject to recreate at scale.
Barry King is building a replica from individual matchsticks, fitting the work around his full-time job. The project depends on having enough room, time and money for materials, so those practical limits affect how quickly it can grow.
The model is intended to challenge the record held by David Reynolds, whose oil-rig replica used four million matches. Comparing the two projects means counting the matches used, while the cathedral’s planned size also makes this a long-term undertaking.