For those interested in City churches of course, Hawksmoor will inevitably be eclipsed by Wren, even though Hawksmoor worked in Wren’s office. Furthermore, Hawksmoor’s London churches built in response to the 50 Churches Act of 1711 were mostly outside the City except for that of St Mary Woolnoth and this City church must therefore share 2 chapters totalling 50 odd pages with 7 other wonderful churches outside the Square Mile. St Mary Woolnoth of course is a fascinating gem and Hart helpfully reveals the background to its form. We are told of its links to Solomon’s Temple cube shape (with a delicious axonometric by Alison Shepherd), the use of Bernini’s baldocchino in St Peter’s Rome to frame the altar, the inscribed stonework "rustics" of the west front using the language of fortification (as at Blenheim’s Kitchen Court gates) for decorative effect, and the form of the towers recalling its earlier medieval tower. The importance of the site, traditionally the Lord Mayor’s church and the mercantile centre of the City, ensures a rich and more canonic ornament than those outside the City. Photographs considerably enhance the understanding both of this particular building and others.

The work of Hawksmoor on "Wren" churches is less well documented - much in fact has to be gleaned from the notes at the back of the book and there is scant mention of his possible work at St Andrew Holborn, St James Garlickhythe, St Michael Paternoster Royal, although St Bride’s, St Vedast, St Margaret Pattens, St Michael Cornhill and St Edmund the King receive mention and sometimes photographs.

There is little biographical detail about Hawskmoor and the reader clearly needs to look elsewhere for an understanding of Hawksmoor the man as opposed to the interpreter of ancient wonders. We do learn however of his membership of a Freemasons’ Lodge meeting at the Oxford Arms on Ludgate Street and of his patron the Earl of Carlisle, and of colleagues who were all "Palladians" and whose architectural preference he felt was counter to his own preferred style. Well produced, indexed and laid out, this will be a useful addition to those interested in Hawksmoor and his inspiration but needs to be read alongside the Downes updated monograph.

Paul Simmons

Nicholas Hawksmoor-rebuilding ancient wonders, Vaughan Hart

The Paul Mellon Centre for studies in British Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London November 2002 0-300-09699-2 £35.