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[212] Survey drawing of Wren's Chapel
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Reference number
SM 67/5/27
Purpose
[212] Survey drawing of Wren's Chapel
Aspect
Elevation for panelling and pilaster
Inscribed
some dimensions given
Hand
Soane office
Notes
In 1818 Soane began making repairs to Wren's chapel, which is located in Wren's main hospital building (in the eastern half of the central wing, bordering the Figure Court). The chapel measures 113 by 38 feet and originally seated about 500 people.
Soane's alterations are described by C.G.T. Dean: 'The long benches were sawn into four, fitted with backs, and then rearranged so as to face the altar... He also dismantled the old "three-decker"; placing the pulpit in its present position, and the Chaplain's desk, with the Clerk's pew attached, on the opposite side of the aisle. Finally he removed the sounding board over the pulpit...'. (A 'sounding board' is a structure placed above, or sometimes behind, the pulpit which helps to project the voice of the speaker into the congregation.) The 'three-decker' refers to the original pulpit 'that stood against the middle of the south wall... This interesting piece of Church furniture comprised, firstly, the present pulpit, over which was a sounding board of inlaid wood, carried on four slender supports. Secondly, the present Reading Desk, or Lectern, originally the Chaplain's Desk, which was set at an intermediate level. Thirdly, a pew for the Clerk, placed immediately in front of the Chaplain's Desk, at floor level. A narrow stair in two short flights gave access to the reading desk and pulpit; the entry under the pulpit being concealed by a curtain'.
This drawing corresponds to much of the decorative scheme the chapel displays today. It could be part of the panelling behind the choir - the pilaster capital with corble-head below is similar, though not exactly the same.
Soane's alterations are described by C.G.T. Dean: 'The long benches were sawn into four, fitted with backs, and then rearranged so as to face the altar... He also dismantled the old "three-decker"; placing the pulpit in its present position, and the Chaplain's desk, with the Clerk's pew attached, on the opposite side of the aisle. Finally he removed the sounding board over the pulpit...'. (A 'sounding board' is a structure placed above, or sometimes behind, the pulpit which helps to project the voice of the speaker into the congregation.) The 'three-decker' refers to the original pulpit 'that stood against the middle of the south wall... This interesting piece of Church furniture comprised, firstly, the present pulpit, over which was a sounding board of inlaid wood, carried on four slender supports. Secondly, the present Reading Desk, or Lectern, originally the Chaplain's Desk, which was set at an intermediate level. Thirdly, a pew for the Clerk, placed immediately in front of the Chaplain's Desk, at floor level. A narrow stair in two short flights gave access to the reading desk and pulpit; the entry under the pulpit being concealed by a curtain'.
This drawing corresponds to much of the decorative scheme the chapel displays today. It could be part of the panelling behind the choir - the pilaster capital with corble-head below is similar, though not exactly the same.
Literature
Royal Hospital Chelsea: Board Minutes and Papers, January 1816-September 1818 (National Archives WO 250/377)
C.G.T. Dean, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, 1950, p.54-55
C.G.T. Dean, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, 1950, p.54-55
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk