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[12/7] Copy of a ground plan laid before the House of Commons in March 1735 (1734 Old Style) showing the parts completed and the parts begun or intended to be built, together with the walled enclosure and the immediate surroundings of the river, Greenwich and the Queen's Garden
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Reference number
SM volume 109/11
Purpose
[12/7] Copy of a ground plan laid before the House of Commons in March 1735 (1734 Old Style) showing the parts completed and the parts begun or intended to be built, together with the walled enclosure and the immediate surroundings of the river, Greenwich and the Queen's Garden
Aspect
Ground-floor plan and site plan
Scale
100 feet to 2 1/8 inch (vertical scale bar on left side of sheet)
Inscribed
In ink at top right, probably by Richard Biggs, Copy of the Plan / laid before the House / of Commons. / Witness Rich : Biggs, and below by Thomas Ripley, Laid before ye House March ye 6 th 1734 / Tho. Ripley; and with numbered scale bar; and at top right (of volume) in C19 hand, 11
Signed and dated
- Undated, but datable shortly before March 1735, when the plan was laid before the House of Commons
Medium and dimensions
Pen and grey ink, with grey, red and yellow washes; brown ink line across top and bottom of sheet, on laid paper with central fold, torn in bottom half and repaired with backing paper (2006). 512 x 705.
Hand
Unidentified draughtsman in Thomas Ripley's office
Watermark
Strasbourg Lily / 4WR; countermark: IV
Notes
The date 1734 must be Old Style and therefore refers to the year 1735. At this late date, it was still proposed to replicate the west range of King William's Court on the east side of Queen Mary's Court, although not in every detail as the applied portico has much smaller columns. The plan presumably reflects the decision taken by the directors in 1732 to complete the Hospital 'according to the Original Design, and in the most frugal manner'. Unlike [12/6], the plan does not provide for an infirmary, nor is there a reference to the use of an adjoining site to the west for that purpose (as on NMM ART 3/4; see Bold 2000, fig. 207). As on all other plans from this period, pairs of square pavilions are included in the rear courtyard areas of each main court, here set close to the proposed new boundary wall. The two pavilions behind King Charles Court and the southern one behind Queen Anne Court are shaded in grey wash, indicating built structures, whereas the rest are in red wash. The same distinction in shading is used for pavilions on NMM ART 3/4.
Literature
Wren Society, VI, pl. 16, top
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