Lovely day, not too much on, took the tube down to Bank, emerged right by St Stephen. Then spent 15 minutes walking round it, trying to find an interesting angle. It's not a beautiful church from the outside - looks very unprepossessing with a plain tower and flank walls that are a mixture of unrelated shapes and materials. There's a Starbucks built inches from the south east corner, a new steel and glass edifice going up behind and the Mansion House dominates the church on the north side. Only the tower can be seen and then only from the north side.
So that's what I drew. Had to sit on the steps of the Nat West, pedestrians stepping on my toes, breathing fumes from the busy road and right in the sun. The sun was so hot that the ink kept drying on the nib which meant drawing was a frustrating experience.
I tried to draw the chaos and confusion that surrounds the ancient building - not sure how successfully.
The church exterior may be uninspiring but the interior is one of Wren's masterpieces. Pevsner says it is one of the 10 most important buildings in the country. Maybe I should include some interiors in this enterprise.
The exterior is as it is because it was completely hemmed in. It was Wren's own parish church and maybe because of this he used it as a test bed for his ideas for St Pauls, particularly the dome. St. Stephen was probably briefly the only church in the country with a dome as St Pauls wasn't finished till much later.
St Stephen's spire was added later - was this Hawksmoor's job again?
Nat West staff came out and smoked nearby. A lady teller professed delight at the drawing. A grandpa stooped with his grand-daughter and they watched for a few minutes.
Two and a quarter hours. Possible sunburn.
Map
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