The Czar's three months' occupancy of Sayes Court left it a wreck, and Evelyn got Sir Christopher, and the Royal gardener, Mr. Loudon, to go down and estimate the repairs which would be necessary. They allowed 150_l._ in their report to the Treasury, but could not by any money replace the beautiful holly hedge through which Peter the Great had been trundled in a wheel-barrow, or repair the garden he had laid waste. [_S. DUNSTAN'S SPIRE._] In 1699, Wren finished the last of those City churches which the Fire had injured or destroyed. S. Dunstan's in the East had suffered severely by the Fire: the walls of the church had not fallen, but the interior had been much damaged and the monument to the famous sailor and discoverer, Sir John Hawkins, who was buried there, perished. The old church had a lofty wooden spire cased with lead, which of course fell and was consumed. When Sir Christopher had repaired the body of the building the parishioners were anxious to have back the spire also, and Dame Dionis Williamson, a Norfolk lady, who had been a great benefactress to S. Mary's, Bow, gave 400_l._ towards this object. It is one of the most curious of all Wren's spires, as it rests on four arches springing from the angles of the tower. Three more such spires exist, two in Scotland and one at Newcastle. Tradition says that the steeple of S. Dunstan's was the design or the suggestion of Wren's daughter Jane. Perhaps, like the leaning tower of Pisa, it is more wonderful than satisfactory to the eye, but Sir Christopher was certainly proud of it and confident in its stability. Great crowds assembled to see the supports taken away, and Wren watched with a telescope, says the story, on London Bridge for the rocket which announced that all was safely done, but it is hardly probable that he was anxious about the result. Four years later, when the tempest known as the 'great storm' raged in England, destroying twelve ships in the Royal navy, many merchant vessels, and a great number of buildings, some one came with a long face to tell Sir Christopher, that '_all_ the steeples in London had suffered;' he replied at once, 'Not S. Dunstan's, I am sure.' He was perfectly right, and the account given of the others was an exaggeration. On February 1, 1699, the Morning Prayer Chapel of S. Paul's was opened for service. Later in the same month, a fire broke out at the west end of the choir, where 'Father Smith' was still at work. It caused considerable alarm, and was got under with some damage, especially to two of the pillars, and to a decorated arch. The gilding also lost some of its brightness. A nameless poem[221] fixes the date of this fire, which has been much disputed. It may have been in consequence of this alarm that Sir Christopher covered all the woodwork of the upper parts of the Cathedral with 'a fibrous concrete' said to resist fire so well that faggots might be kindled below it with impunity. [_WESTMINSTER ABBEY._]