MADE up of more than 730,000 matchsticks, this is Salisbury Cathedral with a difference.

Barry King’s creation took thousands of careful hours to put together – and all while raising cash for the Stars Appeal.

Now it is on display in the Guildhall, but not for long. It is on show today and tomorrow, and August 27 to 29, from 9am to 5pm.

People have already been flocking into the building to have a glimpse of the matchstick project which Barry has been working towards for the past six years.

The 3ft by 2ft western front has left many of the viewers “speechless”, Mr King says. Many were amazed at the sight of the creation, paying greater attention to detail to the smaller aspects such as the hand-painted illustrations to the carvings.

Already he has raised more than £1,400, and he hopes this is just the start of his journey and many more donations will be added. Although his work will take around “another fifteen years” to be fully completed, he is “amazed” by the support he has received so far, which is only motivating him even more to complete his ambitious goal.

“I’ve always wanted to do a piece of artwork that would become famous,” said Barry.

He added: “I’ve always been interested in art. This idea started when my friend visited from Dubai and we went to Old Sarum and Stonehenge, and then I came up with the idea when we visited Salisbury Cathedral - it just popped into my head.

“It took me six months to decide I was actually going to do it, and then it took me a further three weeks to draw up the plans.”