Complete paving plan, as executed

WRE/7/2/7

1709–10

Sir Christopher (1632–1723) Wren, William (1671–1725) Dickinson

Pen and brown ink over incised lines and pencil under-drawing, with pink, red, yellow, grey and black washes and some pencil additions. Four joined sheets of thick, smooth laid paper, with attach flap for north transept portico and steps, and many creases and folds; the reverse with some red sealing wash and modern tissue repairs; 162.8 x 80.4 cm. Watermarks: Strasbourg lily WR on all four sheets; countermark (right-hand sheet, at east end): IHS surmounted by a cross, over IVILLEDARY (partly cut off)

{\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 A record of the paving of the entire cathedral, as laid in several phases between 1684 and 1710. Drawn by Dickinson. Datable 1709-10. Scale, just under 10 ft to 1 inch (100 ft = 259 mm).\par \par Unprecedented in its size, completeness and quality of finish, this plan of the cathedral floor, porticoes and steps dates to the final phase of paving between mid-1709 and July 1710, when the marble floors of the transepts, crossing, nave and west portico steps were laid. In the dome area it incorporates the revision to the diagonal bay of the quarter-plan, WRE/7/1/2, noted on 9 December 1708. \par \par At the west end the drawing shows the completed plan of the partitioning and seating in the Consistory Court. This was installed in two phases: in 1705-06, and in late 1709, when Charles Hopson was paid for the wainscot panelling and the \lquote Oval Table & Frame, 11 ft 6 inches long, 8 feet broad (Wren Society 15, pp.137-38, and 184). The plan is our only visual record of this interior before it was dismantled in 1858. Thereafter the chamber was used for 20 years as a temporary studio for the carving of Stevens\rquote s Wellington Monument. From 1905 it was converted into the chapel for the Order of St Michael and St George (Burman 2004, pp.258-61). Dickinson shows the eastern half of the chapel as a rectangular space enclosing an oval table, with a seat for the presiding judge on the east and a bench for the plaintiff on the west. The west apse, with two ranges of stalls for clergy or members of the public, corresponds to the surviving seating on the west side of the Morning Prayer Chapel (see WRE/4/3/1).\par \par The choir stalls and flooring in the eastern arm, fitted and laid in 1695-97, are drawn in a more summary fashion than the fittings and flooring from the crossing westwards. Not all the coloured marbles are shaded, the outlines of the stalls are partly in pencil, and the columns of the entrance screen are not shown. Other floor areas already paved when this plan was prepared are the Lord Mayor\rquote s Vestry in the south-west bastion, July-September 1684 (Wren Society 13, p.183), the south portico, July-September 1698 (Wren Society 15, p.40), and the north portico, September 1701 (\i ibid.\i0 , p.76).\par \par Dickinson inscribed the drawing '\i chimney\i0 ': in the angle of the Dean's Vestry, in the south-east bastion, and in the corresponding angle of the Minor Canons' Vestry, in the north east bastion.\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.

وعاء

WRE/7/1/2, WRE/4/3/1, WRE/3/3/7, WRE/4/1/6