Following wartime damage and inappropriate conservation work, the still incomplete model was stored away unseen. The construction of the Royal Galleries in the triforium in Westminster Abbey provided a perfect setting for this model, which was commissioned by Sir Christopher Wren to illustrate the central tower he would have liked to have built. The design, carried out in association with Nicholas Hawksmoor, would indeed have created a landmark for the abbey, diplomatically built 3-foot lower than St Pauls. Hawksmoor provided an extremely clever external window opening in the tower to light the underside of the vault. The model had to be completely dismantled as the previous repairs had been positioned incorrectly, and rebuilt using reversible adhesives. It now had pride of place in its exhibition within a new glass case.
Close by, is a smaller sectional model, which demonstrated the successful structure of the building.
