THE CHURCH ABOUT 1740.
From an engraving by B. Cole.[ToList]
During the next few years various structural alterations were made within and without the edifice. The chief of these were the rebuilding, in 1676, of the Bishop's or Lady Chapel, which had been damaged by fire; and some alteration in the tower pinnacles in 1689, when new vanes (bearing that date) were also set up. Mr. Dollman conjectures that the buttresses, if they ever existed, were then removed from the tower.[10]
The "Bishop's Chapel" was a small building projecting eastward from the retro-choir. The name was popularly conferred upon it as the place of Bishop Andrewes' interment, but there can be no reasonable doubt that it was the true Lady Chapel, and that its more correct designation, though popularly disused, was the "Little Chapel of Our Lady." This small building was destroyed in 1830, as interfering with the approach to new London Bridge, when the body of Bishop Andrewes was transferred to its present place in the retro-choir.
In the eighteenth century the interior was altered in various details, with the object of bringing it into harmony with the current notions of ecclesiastical beauty, and the classical forms which architecture had assumed. In the year 1703 a new altar-piece, in the Corinthian style, was erected in front of Bishop Fox's fine stone screen, which it completely concealed. A wooden framework of classical pillars, with figures of Moses and Aaron on either side, and the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments in the spaces between them, the whole surmounted by flaming censers and a circle of flying cherubs, made up a composition not at all bad in itself but utterly out of character with the Gothic work behind and around it. At the same time the sanctuary was railed and paved with black and white marble, the body of the church newly paved and galleried, a pulpit with sounding-board erected, and the whole church "cleaned, white-washed, and beautified throughout, at the charge of the parish." That the work was generally approved may be inferred from the remark of Stow's "Continuator": "This is now a very magnificent church since the late reparation"; while another exponent of public opinion, speaking of this and some later improvements of the same kind says, "Though the church hath been often repaired, yet the beauty for which it is justly admired consists in this repair."
INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.
From an engraving in Moss and Nightingale's "History" (1817-18).[ToList]
In May, 1821, the restoration of the choir was proposed and entertained for the first time, a restoration which the dilapidated state of the clerestory and triforium showed to be necessary. The proposal was not allowed to pass without opposition, for a counter motion was submitted for the complete destruction of the whole building except the tower, to which a brand-new church was to be adapted. Fortunately this latter scheme was negatived by a large majority of the parishioners, and the work of restoration was committed to the then famous Gothic architect Mr. George Gwilt. He did his work most carefully and conscientiously, adhering as far as possible to the original, though hampered throughout his progress by contradictory instructions from the managing committee, who, like most bodies of that kind, were apt to fluctuate between motives of economy and a sense of what was due to the ancient fabric. The Gothic revival was then in an incipient stage, and Mr. Gwilt, or his committee, must be held responsible for the removal of the old east gable, with its five-light Tudor window, erected by Bishop Fox, in place of which a new window of three lights was inserted. During this restoration the Church of St. Mary Magdalene was demolished in 1822, together with some old houses, which are less to be regretted as having encroached too closely on the walls of the choir.
In 1825 the restoration of the nave began to be seriously considered, its dilapidated state having been made more conspicuous by contrast with the restored chancel. Tenders for the work were invited by public advertisement, but nothing important was done while the vestry were discussing the respective advantages of "rebuilding" and "repairing," and the nave was neglected till it got beyond repair. In the meantime the two transepts were restored by Mr. Robert Wallace in 1830.