An unrealised scheme for the precinct, c.1696–97

WRE/7/1

8 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 WRE/7/1/1 is a block-plan of the precinct which incorporates a project sketched by Wren and Hawksmoor to rebuild almost all the churchyard frontages in a symmetrical, wedge-shaped piazza, on axis with the cathedral. The scheme can be dated c.1696-97, as the block-plan by William Dickinson (who joined the office in 1696) shows the cathedral before revisions to the north and south transept steps in 1698-99. \par \par In WRE/7/1/2 Hawksmoor refined the planning of the rotunda at the west end and drew the terraces of houses around the churchyard with ground-floor arcades. He modelled the rotunda on Wren\rquote s unrealised scheme of 1678 for a mausoleum to Charles I at Windsor Castle, sketching the design in half-elevation, section and plan (WRE/7/1/3). Simon Gribelin appears to have been responsible for two neat but unfinished drawings based on this sketch: an elevation, (WRE/7/1/4, with a scale bar by Hawksmoor), and a section (WRE/7/1/5). The mausoleum may have been intended to house a monument to Queen Mary II, who died in December 1694. \par \par WRE/7/1/6 is a long elevation in pencil of three terraces of houses on the south side of the proposed new precinct. It provides the basis for two large-scale studies of houses, WRE/7/1/7 and 8. The three-storeyed pilastered elevation below the attic recalls Roger North\rquote s frontage to Middle Temple of 1684, while the ground-floor arcade derives from Inigo Jones\rquote s Covent Garden piazza in the 1630s.\cf0\b\f1\par }

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