Quarter-plan of the crossing, with a paving proposal in the bay from centre-nave to centre-aisle

WRE/7/2/5

c.1690–92

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

Pen and brown ink over incised lines and pencil, with grey, yellow-green and grey-blue washes, with additions in pencil. Thick laid paper. 52.9 x 53.1 cm. Watermark: Strasbourg lily WR

A study for the paving of the crossing area up to the first full bay on the east side, on a plan of the south-east quarter. Drawn by Hawksmoor. Datable c.1690-92. Implied scale, just over 6 ft to 1 inch. The incomplete outlines of the vestry in the bastion exactly match those in Wren’s preparatory half-plan of the choir enclosure of c.1693-94, WRE/4/1/5. Both plans are orientated with east to the left and have the same centre-line divisions. This drawing probably precedes Wren’s half-plan, as the paving in the rectangle between the centres of the middle and outer aisles does not allow for the west range of the choir stalls, which was to be placed centrally in the first bay east of the crossing. A large-scale companion plan at All Souls of a paving square has notes by Hawksmoor in a similar uneven hand, datable to the late 1680s or early 1690s (Geraghty 2007 no.104). These explain the dimensions of the squares, noted in pencil on the present drawing: 4 ft 10 ½ inches is an eighth of 39 ft (the centre-nave to centre-aisle dimension) and each square is divided into three equal parts of 1 ft 7 ½ inches (marked here in ruled pencil lines). The All Souls drawing names the marbles as Plymouth for the grey bands, Swedish marble for the white squares flecked with grey at the intersecting angles, yellow Purbeck for the background of the squares, and black marble for the central lozenges. Hawksmoor wrote in pencil, bottom left, ‘The genll sqs are / 4 . 10 ½ / small sqrs are / 1 - 7 ½ / The Line A falls 18’ [inches] / to the Right hand'. The last part of the note is probably an instruction to move the paving pattern 18 inches westwards. He also noted the centre-to-centre dimensions along the east-west axial line at the base of the plan. Exploratory in character, the drawing probably dates to the early 1690s when attention was turning to fitting out the choir. The final paving scheme has smaller, diagonally set, white marble squares in the eastern arm and a radiating pattern of darker marbles in the crossing space; see WRE/7/2/6 and 7.

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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