Airy's Transit Circle was designed by the Astronomer Royal, George Airy, after whom it is named. It was built jointly by Ransomes and May of Ipswich, who were responsible for the heavy engineering, and Troughton and Simms of London, who built the optics and instrumentation. It was used at the Observatory from 1851 until 1954.

This series includes three sets of drawings: two sets with overlapping drawing numbers (originally rolled separately), and a third set of smaller-sized drawings prepared for publication. Sets 1-2 are arranged in order of drawing number.