Studies for the transept ends, screen walls and upper bastions, c.1685–88

WRE/3/2

12 drawings

{\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 Three main phases in the design of the upper levels of the transepts and bastions between 1685 and about 1688 are represented in this section. \par \par WRE/3/2/1, datable c.1685, and drawn by the unidentified draughtsman (fl.1675-c.1687), is the earliest plan to show the screen walls. WRE/3/2/2, a design for the upper transept front in the same hand, belongs to the first phase in the design of the screen walls in which the aedicules are set high in the wall, their pediments rising half-way up the frieze between the Corinthian capitals. \par \par Nicholas Hawksmoor joined the office in 1685 and began working with the unidentified draughtsman on designs for the upper transept fronts and upper bastions while also drawing plans, elevations and sections for the west end (see WRE/3/3 and 4). \par \par WRE/3/2/3 and 4 are mostly in Hawksmoor's hand and belong to a second phase. Revisions on three flaps, (a), (b) and (c), set the transept window and screen-wall aedicules lower by about 1 ft 6 inches and reduce the steps in the portico semi-dome from four to three. The triforium window now has a voussoired head instead of a key block and rises higher between the pedestals of the aedicule. WRE/3/2/5 is a neat, finished version of the design, drawn by the unidentified man. \par \par Common to these and other studies from the first two phases is a three-moulding upper cornice, the middle one being a deep corona (the square-profile drip moulding of the cornice). Consoles brackets are sometimes sketched in the upper frieze but have not yet been integrated with the corona. The upper capitals are drawn as either Corinthian or Composite. \par \par A third phase is represented by WRE/3/2/8-12. Wren revised the upper cornice by setting projecting blocks between the scrolled tops of the consoles and the corona; see WRE/3/3/12. These allowed the corona to project as far as in the first phase but at nearly half its height, thus reducing the size of the stone blocks in construction. One of the earliest drawings to display the \lquote console-block cornice\rquote is a revision of the upper elevation of the transept front in Hawksmoor\rquote s hand, WRE/3/2/8. In this phase the upper capitals are usually Composite, in keeping with the form of the entablature and as eventually built.\par \par The design of the two storey elevation in this third phase is recorded in drawings by Simon Gribelin. He drew a near-final design for the transept front, WRE/3/2/9, a quarter-plan of the cathedral and transept end (reversed for engraving), WRE/3/2/11, and a part-section and part-elevation of the same quarter, WRE/3/2/10. He was also probably responsible for a detailed design of the interior of the upper transept window, WRE/3/2/12, datable c.1686-88. \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.

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