Addressing a Later, Incongruous Addition to the Wren Steps

The Wren Steps at Soulton Hall currently lack their original geometric finals, lost centuries ago. Shortly after WWII, inappropriate 20th-century replacements depicting random animals were installed.

The Wren steps with the offending C20th additions removed. Much better.

English Heritage criticized these in the 1958 listing – a view we shared but sentimental reasons delayed action on for some time. (It’s worth noting the listing is otherwise seriously historically inaccurate, including misdating the hall’s 1550s construction by a century).

These concrete additions clashed with the original scheme and potentially obscured the intended meditative statements.

This caused reading difficulties with the Wren work for some visitors, necessitating clarification of misunderstandings regarding its Neoplatonic and rhombic dodecahedron-inspired mathematical social allegory.  relocating these C20th items to somewhere less prominent and jarring was over-due and important.

The eventual reinstatement of historically accurate geometric finals is planned, informed by Victorian photographs and these underlying mathematical concepts.

Removing these additions prioritizes the clarity of the original design by eliminating a false signal that actively confuses some, a more pressing concern than the current absence of a missing element.

Prior to removal: these 20th-century finials, a later and somewhat discordant addition to the historic Wren Steps.