Designs for the final scheme, with revisions, c.1694–1708

WRE/5/3

11 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 A payment in December 1695 to Edward Strong\rquote s masons to \lquote Alter and Add to the Modell of the Legg [quarter] of the Dome\rquote suggests a final revision to the lower part of the dome, shortly before the start of construction at its base, above the crossing arches, a month later (Wren Society 15, pp.5-6). By late 1695 Wren would have decided on the widths and positions of the inner and outer walls of the drum up to the springing of the inner dome. The first eight drawings in this group take the design to this level. The next in the sequence, WRE/5/3/9, dramatically revises the design in c.1701-03 above the entablature of the inner peristyle. The last two are near-final construction drawings for the lantern: WRE/5/3/10 is for its masonry in c.1706-07, and WRE/5/3/11, drawn by William Dickinson in 1708, is for its timber-framed capping, ball and cross. \par \par The first five drawings can be placed shortly before the start of work on the dome as their dimensions are not as built. WRE/5/3/1 is an early eighth-plan of the dome above the Whispering Gallery. It sets the inner wall of the drum further back than built and introduces radial walls at peristyle level. WRE/5/3/2 is a quarter-plan of the crossing and half-plan of the transept which shows the wall passages and staircases around the base of the drum but does not place the substructure correctly. WRE/5/3/3 is a large-scale pen-and-wash study by Hawksmoor of the peristyle bays in elevation and section but with radial walls rather than arched openings. WRE/5/3/4 is an early half-plan of the peristyle with arched openings, but these are wider than built and the overall diameter is too narrow. WRE/5/3/5 is a large-scale section by Hawksmoor from the dome entablature to the top of the peristyle. It resembles a working drawing, and Hawksmoor reused it in 1700 to make pencilled changes to the top of the lower drum and the stonework of the peristyle. However, it differs from the built fabric in several larger dimensions at the lower levels.\par \par William Dickinson began work at St Paul\rquote s as a measurer in 1696 (see Wren Society 15, p.69; Higgott 2009, pp.167-69). He drew three studies for the peristyle, WRE/5/3/6-8, based on those by Hawksmoor in WRE/5/3/3 but with arched openings instead of radial walls. These precede the final revisions in the remarkable full-height section, WRE/5/3/9, which presents three alternative schemes for the structure above the springing of the inner dome, the last of which removes the upper tier of windows in the peristyle. A final revision in pink line and shading lowers the springing of the inner dome and middle cone and greatly increases the height of the lantern. \cf0\b\f1\par }

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