Finished plan of the north-west tower, developed from 6/2/4, showing the triforium level, the clock/belfry stage with concave corners, and the lantern with 16 columns

WRE/6/2/5

c.1701–02

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, Simon (1661–1733) Gribelin

Dark brown ink over fine pencil. Single untrimmed sheet of smooth laid paper with central vertical fold; stains from contact with corrosion marks on WRE/6/2/3. 60.2 x 38.4 cm. Watermark: fleur-de-lys; countermark: HP

A revised, finished plan of the north-west tower, developed from the sketched alterations to WRE/6/2/4, and corresponding to the towers in Gribelin’s west elevation, WRE/6/2/7 (stage 4). Drawn probably by Simon Gribelin. Datable 1701-02. Stippled outlines mark the plan at triforium level, and thin solid lines the clock/belfry and lantern stages. All are drawn over fine pencil lines without a scale bar or any annotation. The conventions and techniques closely resemble those in plans attributable to Simon Gribelin in the period c.1685-94 (compare WRE/3/1/12, WRE/3/2/11 and WRE/3/4/3). Gribelin drew the elevation that incorporates the tower in this design, WRE/6/2/7, so his authorship of this plan is plausible. The clock/belfry stage is shown both at mid-height, where the projecting circular dial frame is at its maximum circumference, and at upper level, where a wall passage runs above the openings (rather than through them, as the plan implies). The section in WRE/6/2/6 shows the relationship of this passage to the clock pediment and the internal vault. The circular plan of the vault is not marked but it would have created additional depth for the inward-curving wall passage at the angles. The internal diameter of the lantern has been reduced from 16 ft on WRE/6/2/4 to 15 ½ ft. The windows of the drum have also been widened. The spiral stair up to this level is half the width of the corner stair rising below it from triforium level. The latter corresponds to the one marked B on WRE/6/2/4. Displaced inwards from the lower stair, it connects via a straight flight over the back of the vault to an identical spiral stair within the drum. The patches of brown staining on the left side of the sheet are from prolonged contact with WRE/6/2/4, when both were on facing pages in the same bound volume in the St Paul’s Library (SP 150 and 151B).

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/3/1/12, WRE/3/2/11, WRE/3/4/3