Half-section of the choir and an unfinished study for a vaulted triforium gallery above an aisle which has openings instead of saucer domes in the vaults

WRE/3/1/5

1685–86

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Nicholas (c.1662–1736) Hawksmoor

Pen and brown ink over pencil under-drawing, with additions in pencil. 56.1 x 45.9 cm. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR; countermark: PVL.

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 System;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue128;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs20 An incomplete study, drawn by Hawksmoor, for the triforium gallery, derived from Wren\rquote s half-section of the apse in WRE/2/3/8, and sharing its scale (just under 5 ft to 1 inch). Datable 1685-86. \par \par The section is taken through the middle of choir and aisle bay looking east and includes the crypt, although this is incorrectly drawn: the side aisle is too wide, its vault is semi-circular rather than parabolic, and the breaks in the outer wall are wrongly placed (compare WRE/2/1/1 and 2). In the choir aisle the saucer dome of the vault has been opened to a gallery space in the triforium which is covered with a saucer dome. Above is the main horizontal beam of the triforium roof, about 3 ft higher than eventually built (compare WRE/3/1/10, where the beam is about 2 ft lower). No upper roof slope is drawn and the flying buttress is absent. The saucer dome springs from a cornice around the walls of a gallery room with square-headed openings. The outer opening leads to a short vaulted bay beneath a flat section of the roof to the triforium window in the screen wall. Ruled diagonal pencil lines show light passing from the triforium window and square-headed opening through the aperture in the aisle vault to the central aisle of the choir.\par \par Bricklayers constructed the \lquote first square Vault\rquote , or saucer dome, over the south aisle of the choir in May 1686 (WS 14, p.6). Up to then it was possible to consider this unusual alternative of leaving the circular apertures open to improve the lighting in the choir. This scheme illustrates that possibility but also its impracticality, for access between the triforium bays would have been restricted to the outer side, beneath the flat-roof section. \par \par The screen wall is only drawn up to a horizontal line at the top of the keyblock above the triforium window. This line is 12 ft 6 inches above the top of the lower cornice, and the keyblock is 2 ft 3 inches high with a flat front face. Below the window the plinth was first drawn in ink as a single course and then changed in pencil to a stepped plinth in two courses, separated by a channel. The triforium window in this design can be placed after an initial series for the upper elevations in the transept fronts and western body in which the window arch is lower and has a scrolled keyblock; see WRE/3/2/2 and WRE/3/3/5. At the next stage the window arch is higher, the keyblock is plain, and the plinth is divided into two courses; see WRE/3/1/9. \par \par Edward Pearce drew the channelled courses more neatly in his section with alternatives for the flying buttress, WRE/3/1/10. He set the beam of the roof about 2 ft lower and closer to the fabric. His study must therefore be the later of the two.\par \par The title in ink over pencil at the top of the sheet, '\i Design for East End of Choire\i0 ', is probably by Robert Mylne; he acquired a group of Wren-office drawings in 1767; see also WRE/2/3/1, WRE/3/1/4 and 7, WRE/3/2/8 and WRE/4/1/4.\cf0\b\f1\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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WRE/2/3/8, WRE/2/1/2, WRE/3/2/2, WRE/3/2/6, WRE/3/3/5, WRE/3/2/8, WRE/2/3/1, WRE/4/1/4