Elevation and part-plan of the east bay on the south side of the choir at upper level

WRE/3/1/9

1685–86

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Unidentified draughtsman (fl.1675–c.1687)

Pen and brown ink, with red chalk, over incised lines and pencil under-drawing, with additions in pencil. 49.6 x 60.2 cm. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR; countermark: IHS surmounted by a cross, over PC.

Drawn by the unidentified draughtsman, perhaps with some pencil drawing by Wren, this design is twice the scale of WRE/3/1/8 and incorporates part of its plan beneath the elevation. Datable 1685-86. Drawn scale, just under 3 ft to 1 inch (10 ft = 85.5 mm). The elevation belongs mid-way in the sequence of designs for the upper elevation. Preceding it are two for the upper transept front and several more for the western body in which the pedimented aedicules are set higher and have taller pedestals flanking the triforium windows (see WRE/3/2/2-3 and WRE/3/3/5). It shows the aedicule after the pedestals were lowered: the sill moulding has been removed and the voussoired window head rises to meet the base of the niche. The pencil-sketching of foliage on the voussoirs, and of garlands with crossed swords on the sub-frieze between the capitals, may be in Wren’s hand (compare the sketching on WRE/2/2/5). In the fabric, relief ornament on the sub-frieze was restricted to the apse and the easternmost part-bays. Some pencil-sketched decoration in the part-bay on the right side of this drawing appears to have been deleted. At the next stage Wren adopted a Composite upper order and added console brackets to the frieze; see WRE/3/3/12. The part-plan in red chalk is a refinement of the plan in WRE/3/1/8. The posts, indicated in broken lines (for timber), were reduced from 1 ft 4 inches wide in this drawing to 9 inches in construction, and posts were added near the inner wall.

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/3/2/2, WRE/3/2/3, WRE/3/3/5, WRE/3/2/5, WRE/2/2/5, WRE/3/3/12, WRE/3/2/1