Stage 1: choir fittings, organ case and altar enclosure, c.1693

WRE/4/1

17 drawings

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Microsoft Sans Serif;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue128;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\cf1\f0\fs20 Leading up to the scheme which Wren presented to the Building Committee on 2 October 1693 are several studies for the organ and choir screen. The earliest is WRE/4/1/1, a drawing by Nicholas Hawksmoor and Grinling Gibbons for a richly decorated organ case set within the arch of the choir arcade. Hawksmoor and Gibbons also collaborated on WRE/4/1/2, a revised scheme for the case in a central position, above the choir screen. In a further revision drawn only by Hawksmoor, WRE/4/1/3, stronger emphasis is given to the central bay of the case. \par \par Once he had decided to set the organ above the entrance to the choir, Wren narrowed the opening in the screen, thickened the timber walls of the enclosure, doubled the engaged columns at the ends of the screen, and continued the paired engaged columns around the outer walls of the enclosure. These changes can be seen in his pencil half-plan, WRE/4/1/5, drawn at a scale of 2 ft to 1 inch. Closely associated with this drawing is a group of plans, elevations and sections to same scale. These are:\par \par (i) WRE/4/1/6 and 7: an ink-drawn plan of single bay of choir stalls and a duplicate of the same plan, . \par \par (ii) WRE/4/1/ 8 and 9: an elevation and section in ink and wash of a scheme for the choir screen with curved stalls on the east side of the west range of the enclosure. An earlier version of this scheme is sketched in pencil on the half-plan WRE/4/1/5. \par \par (iii) WRE/4/1/13: a two-part elevation of the central stall on the north and south sides (for the Lord Mayor and Bishop of London respectively) and the east end of the stalls.\par \par (iv) WRE/4/1/14, 15 and 16: three designs for a bay of the enclosure facing the aisles or choir aisle screen. \par \par Closely related to the above designs are WRE/4/1/10-12 and 17: four larger-scale studies for the \lquote chair organ\rquote , the gallery fronts, the columns of the choir screen, the stall canopies, and the altar rail.\par \par At some point before submitting his scheme on 2 October 1693, Wren revised the west range of the stalls from curved to straight and produced a final version the whole ensemble in the All Souls plan (Geraghty 2007, no.93).\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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