Sir Christopher Wren was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. [1] He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710. [2]
According to Kerry Downes, "there is considerable evidence that Wren," by the end of the 17th century, "delegated particular projects to [Nicholas] Hawksmoor." The nature and extent of Wren's involvement in the designs his office produced towards the end of his career is debated by scholars. [3]
Image | Name | Location | Designed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Early scheme for rebuilding Whitehall Palace [20] | 1660s | |||
Remodelling of Old St Paul's Cathedral | St Paul's Churchyard, Castle Baynard, City of London | 1666 | Old St Paul's Cathedral was severely damaged by the Great Fire of London and Wren's proposed additions were never realized. Wren ultimately designed its replacement. | |
London Plan | London | 1666 | Wren's masterplan for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire [21] | |
Commencement (Senate) House | University of Cambridge, Cambridge | c. 1675 | ||
Arundel House | St James's, City of Westminster | c. 1676 | Building executed to designs likely supplied by Edward Pearce. | |
Rebuilding of Royal Mews [22] | Charing Cross, City of Westminster | c. 1676 | ||
Mausoleum for Charles I | Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire | 1678 | Not financed [23] [24] | |
Proposal for renovation of Ingestre Hall | Ingestre, Staffordshire | c. 1684-85 | ||
Church | Lincoln's Inn Fields, Holborn and Covent Garden | c. 1695–96 | ||
Post-fire scheme for rebuilding the Palace of Whitehall | Palace of Whitehall, City of Westminster | 1698 | ||
Renovation of Upper Ward [25] | Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire | 1698 | ||
College Bridge | St John's College, Cambridge | c. 1698 | Though ultimately executed to a design by Grumbold, [26] the bridge is today known as the Wren Bridge | |
Cottonian Library [19] | Old Palace of Westminster, City of Westminster | 1703 | ||
St Mary le Strand | Strand, City of Westminster | 1713 | Ultimately executed to the design of James Gibbs | |
Hyde Park Barracks [27] | Hyde Park | 1713 |
A number of structure have, without supporting documentary evidence, been attributed to Christopher Wren. Speaking of this tendency, biographer Adrian Tinniswood has written that "If Wren was connected with a building, however remotely, it was slotted into the rapidly expanding canon." [28]
Sir Christopher WrenFRS was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710.
Nicholas Hawksmoor was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principal architects of the time, Christopher Wren and John Vanbrugh, and contributed to the design of some of the most notable buildings of the period, including St Paul's Cathedral, Wren's City of London churches, Greenwich Hospital, Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. Part of his work has been correctly attributed to him only relatively recently, and his influence has reached several poets and authors of the twentieth century.
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London. Its dedication in honour of Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. The present structure, which was completed in 1710, is a Grade I listed building that was designed in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. The cathedral's reconstruction was part of a major rebuilding programme initiated in the aftermath of the Great Fire of London. The earlier Gothic cathedral, largely destroyed in the Great Fire, was a central focus for medieval and early modern London, including Paul's walk and St Paul's Churchyard, being the site of St Paul's Cross.
All Souls College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows. It has no undergraduate members, but each year, recent graduate and postgraduate students at Oxford are eligible to apply for a small number of examination fellowships through a competitive examination and, for those shortlisted after the examinations, an interview.
Trinity College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1555 by Sir Thomas Pope, on land previously occupied by Durham College, home to Benedictine monks from Durham Cathedral.
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, according to the will of her late husband Nicholas Wadham, a member of an ancient Devon and Somerset family.
The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. Henry VIII moved the royal residence to White Hall after the old royal apartments at the nearby Palace of Westminster were themselves destroyed by fire. Although the Whitehall palace has not survived, the area where it was located is still called Whitehall and has remained a centre of the British government.
Sir Edward Codrington, was a British admiral, who took part in the Battle of Trafalgar and the Battle of Navarino.
James Elmes was an English architect, civil engineer, and writer on the arts.
Matthew Wren was an influential English clergyman, bishop and scholar.
The Drummond Professorship of Political Economy at All Souls College, Oxford has been held by a number of distinguished individuals, including three Nobel laureates. The professorship is named after and was founded by Henry Drummond.
St Lawrence Jewry next Guildhall is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to the Guildhall. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It is the official church of the Lord Mayor of London.
All-Hallows-the-Great was a church in the City of London, located on what is now Upper Thames Street, first mentioned in 1235. Destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, the church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. All-Hallows-the-Great was demolished in 1894 when many bodies were disinterred from the churchyard and reburied at Brookwood Cemetery.
St Michael Paternoster Royal is a church in the City of London. The original building, which was first recorded in the 13th century, was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The church was rebuilt under the aegis of Sir Christopher Wren. However St Michael's was severely damaged during the London Blitz in the Second World War. It was restored between 1966 and 1968.
Old St Paul's Cathedral was the cathedral of the City of London that, until the Great Fire of 1666, stood on the site of the present St Paul's Cathedral. Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated to Saint Paul, this building was perhaps the fourth such church at this site on Ludgate Hill, going back to the 7th century.
St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was a church and parish in the City of London located on Bartholomew Lane, off Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, then rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church was demolished in 1840.
St George Botolph Lane was a church off Eastcheap, in the ward of Billingsgate in the City of London. The rear of the church overlooked Pudding Lane, where the fire of London started. It was first recorded in the twelfth century, and destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. It was one of the 51 churches rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The church was demolished in 1904.
St Benet Fink was a church and parish in the City of London located on what is now Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666, then rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. The Wren church was demolished between 1841 and 1846.
Kerry John Downes was an English architectural historian whose speciality was English Baroque architecture. He was Professor of History of Art, University of Reading, 1978–91, then Emeritus.