13 | P a g e churches to the ogees and spire-like pinnacles of the tower at St Dunstan’s; one which bears much more of a semblance to the cathedrals and abbeys of the Tudor period than anything Vitruvius or Serlio would have approved of. Unfortunately, the church currently only exists in a fragmented state, as a result of the blitz in 1941, and serves more as a tranquil garden within the City, though the tower itself was restored to a respectable state in the twentieth century. For the steeple, Wren drew freely from lasting Gothic cathedrals in the north (Most notably St Nicholas, Newcastle) incorporating parabolic arches which converge inwards from the four cornered pinnacles into a platform supporting a spirelet, in keeping with the medieval practice of having converging flying buttresses. 49 Even so, a key theme which must be recognised is Wren’s austere use of Gothic forms, again demonstrating his inclination towards simple geometry and proportion, as opposed to a fixation on creating ‘customary beauties’ 50 - especially on an occasion where he was “oblig’d to deviate from a better style”. Even though Gothic motifs such as the ogee were used when and where appropriate, even the mouldings and tracery patters, like the ones at his other Gothic buildings, are rather conventional. St Dunstan’s purposefully lacks the Medieval animation of Decorated Norman churches for example, as it is not intended to express a call back to the Middle ages, but rather have a whimsical character of its own.
Figure 14: Wren's clock tower and Gothic needle spire (left) and Figure 15: One of the Gothic-style windows which remain on the north wall (right)
49 50
John Summerson, Architecture in Britain: 1530 - 1830, pg. 201 Kerry Downes, The architecture of Wren, pg. 89
