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  • image SM Vol 54/15

Reference number

SM Vol 54/15

Purpose

[23] Preliminary survey, Westminster Hall, 24 April 1824

Aspect

Elevation of the north gable pinnacle of Westminster Hall, with quarter section through the latter

Scale

not to scale

Inscribed

Part of the North Front / of / Westminster Hall dimensions given

Signed and dated

  • 24/04/1824
    April 1824

Medium and dimensions

Pencil, on wove paper bound in volume (211 x 281)

Hand

Stephen Burchell (1806 - c.1843), draughtsman
The Day Book entry for 24 April 1824 notes that Stephen Burchell was Sketching parts of Westminster / Hall.

Notes

This series of survey drawings (SM Vol 54/13 - 16; 18 - 19) may have been prepared in response to the Select Committee's criticism of the New Law Courts, and their junction with the north façade of Westminster Hall. The substantial north gable pinnacle was restored by Soane to an approximation of its mediaeval appearance during his restoration of Westminster Hall from 1819 - 1823. Its former appearance is recorded in a drawing by William Capon, dated to 1793 (reproduced in H.K.W., vol. iv, pt 2 (1982): plate 28). Despite Soane's archaeological intent, there are numerous details which characterise this work as belonging to the early nineteenth-century; in regard to this example, the weak association between the ogee canopies and the spirelet.

Level

Drawing

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation. This catalogue of Soane’s designs for the New Law Courts was generously funded by The Worshipful Company of Mercers and The Pilgrim Trust.

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk