Study for the transept end, entrance and steps, including (on reverse) a study for a water tower

WRE/1/2

1673

Brown ink over pencil, with additions in pencil, pricked through for transfer, and with numerous prick marks from another sheet, from a larger-scale design for the Great Model. Reverse in pencil, with trial brush marks in brown ink on right-hand side. Thick laid paper, with modern repair strip along top. 21.6 x 34.0 cm. No watermark.

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs20 A sequence of studies for the transept entrance. Drawn by Wren. Datable 1673. Implied scale, c.12 ft to 1 inch.\par \par The pencil drawing is certainly Wren's and the ink outlines appear to be in the same hand (compare the ink drawing on WRE/1/3). The studies belong to a second phase in the design of the Great Model, leading up to the final scheme. In place of bays articulated by pilasters, with three-quarter columns at the entrances, as in WRE/1/1, Wren has set six detached columns against the transept front, a solution which recalls the porticoes of the Greek Cross design. The three central bays form a recessed staircase entrance, with L-shaped flights of 14 steps each side, rising between the pedestals of the columns to a platform in front of the door screened. A balustrade screens the platform between the central pair of columns. The genesis of this scheme is in a sketch for a four-column transept portico on the back of a design for the transept or east elevation at All Souls, belonging to the earlier phase (Geraghty 2007, no.55).\par \par In a series of pencil-sketched alternatives on the front and back of the sheet, Wren changed the articulation to a curve-pedimented applied portico on a projecting central portion of the front, with a stepped or concave entrance recess. He developed this variant further in WRE/1/3.\par \par \b Front of sheet: \b0\par \par Drawn in pen and brown ink in the top left corner is a sketch of an acanthus leaf. Across the top upper left side are trial pen strokes. Other studies are in pencil:\par \par (i) Top left: plan of single straight flight of steps in the recess (drawn over an alternative convex flight), and with three-quarter columns framing single bays each side.\par \par (ii) Upper centre: alternative plan for central recess, with concave rather than L-shaped steps, drawn over with straight steps. Detached columns front single bays each side of the recess.\par \par (iii) Top right: plan of the left half of transept wall, showing 4 outer bays of differing widths and one central recessed bay; the outermost bay has pilasters, the intermediate ones have three-quarter columns, and the angle of the recess has an attached full column.\par \par \b Reverse: \b0\par \par A palimpsest of several plans and elevations in pencil, including an unexecuted sketch proposal for a water tower, which Wren may have intended to build at St Paul's to supply running water.\par \par (iv) Bottom centre: sketch elevation of whole transept elevation based on (i) above, and closely related to the plan on WRE/1/3. The entrance recess has a door at church floor level, approached by a straight flight of steps, and a large arched window above, flanked by corner columns. The recess is spanned by a shallow segmental pediment at attic level, its tympanum set-back between the corner columns and containing an oval cartouche with swags. The single bays each side of the recess project forwards from the outer bays of the transept front at pedestal and entablature levels, reflecting the plan in WRE/1/3, where these bays have three-quarter columns rather than pilasters.\par \par (v) Top right: small preparatory sketch of upper left half of the recess and segmental pediment, showing the set-back of the inner entablature above the corner column. \par \par (vi) Top left: large-scale sketch of the above detail, showing the set-back within the pediment and the moulding profiles of the entablature. \par \par (vii) Top centre: sketch elevation of a water tower, about 33 ft high, with a pyramidal roof and cantilevered upper section enclosed by a 6-bay timber framework in the upper half. The elevation, with three narrow windows, has been extended downwards by the addition of a high plinth containing a door. \par \par (viii) Right centre: perspective view of the water tower, looking up, showing the cantilevered upper stage.\par \par (ix) Centre left: superimposed plans of water tower at lower and upper levels, with inscribed dimensions for wall thicknesses (1.5 ft) and showing spiral staircase in the central space (5.5 ft wide) and the cantilevered beams in plan.\par \par (x) Upper left centre: alternative plan of the water tower showing a stair rising around two sides of an open well.\par \par (xi) Lower left: alternative plan-idea for the water tower in which the cantilevered superstructure is set diagonally over the square plan.\cf2\par }

Access to the Wren office drawings held at London Metropolitan Archives is available only with advance notice and at the discretion of the Heritage Services Director, London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London, EC1R 0HB.

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