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 THE SIR HARRY DOWNIE
MUSEUM
 This
museum is located in the small building to the right of the front of the Mission
Basilica. It was assembled and dedicated in 1980 to commemorate the work of
the renowned restorer of the California Mission, Sir Harry Downie.
The museum is organized to show an
overview of the major periods of the Carmel Mission’s history leading up to its
restoration and reactivation in the twentieth century under the workmanship of
the Late Henry J. Downie.
The Museum begins with the period when
the area was inhabited by the Indians, and the display contains artifacts that
are indigenous to the Native peoples of this coastal region.
The second display focuses on the
founding of the Mission under Junipero Serra and contains artifacts associated
with the first Mass and the earliest structures.
The third display illustrates building
the Mission displaying actual tool that were used as well as items connected
with the building trades practiced there.
The fourth display concentrates on the
period of ruin and abandonment when the mission feel prey to squatters and
treasure-hunters. Artifacts displayed were found buried in the rubble, or are
items carried away as salvage by the local population who saw the ruins as a
“mine” of free building materials.
The fifth display commemorates the new
era of rebuilding beginning with the re-roofing of the Church ruins in 1882-1884
to revitalize the crumbling structure for the Centenary of the death of the
Apostle of California, Fray Junipero Serra, (August 28th, 1884).
The final display, housed in the second
room of the structure is dedicated to the work of Harry Downie in rebuilding and
restoring the Missions of California. Some of Harry’s original drawings and
notebooks are on display as well a recreation of the office/ drafting room of
his workshop that until recently stood on the lower field of the Mission.
by Sir Richard Joseph Menn, G.C. St.G.G.
 
For Harry Downie Memorial Album please
click here
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