Study elevation of an east corner bastion at church-floor level, with half an adjoining aisle bay

WRE/2/3/1

1675

Pen and brown ink over incised lines and pencil under drawing, with additions in pencil. On side of sheet of thin laid paper, with central fold. 29.3 x 37.5 cm. Watermark: horn in shield (see Churchill, no. 315)

An unfinished study-elevation of an east, north or south wall of one of the two eastern bastions. Drawn at least in part by Wren. Datable 1675 (pre-construction). Implied scale, just over 6 ft to 1 inch. The pencil preparatory technique and the careful, three-dimensional rendering in ink of the acanthus leaf and volutes of the Corinthian capitals suggest Wren's hand. The pencil inscription, ‘Break in Left hand side of North Entrance’, was added in the later eighteenth century, probably by Robert Mylne, who acquired a group of drawings in 1767 (see WRE/3/1/4, 5 and 7; WRE/3/2/8; WRE/4/1/4). The title suggests that the drawing shows the north elevation of the north-east bastion, with half a choir aisle to the left. However, it could equally show the east elevation of the south-east bastion, that is, the exterior of the wall shown in section on the left side of WRE/2/2/3. It postdates this drawing, as the basement is now at the built height of 9 ft and its windows are correctly positioned. The vestry window is also at the correct height but above this level the design is unresolved. The upper vestry window is indicated only by a void in the banded stonework and is set one course too low. The entablature is tentatively sketched with a deeply projecting modillioned cornice. This profile not otherwise recorded in the early phases of design and differs markedly from the near-final version in Wren’s two studies for the transept end, WRE/2/2/6 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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WRE/2/2/3, WRE/2/2/6, WRE/2/2/7, WRE/3/1/4, WRE/3/1/5, WRE/3/1/7, WRE/3/2/8, WRE/4/1/4