Explore the remarkable story of a great man, Sir Christopher Wren, a multifaceted genius and key figure in the English Baroque era. He shaped the landscape through a long career as the King’s own architect, overseeing the design and construction of churches and royal buildings amid turbulent times.
In 2023, London marked 300 years since Wren’s death on 23rd February 1723, at the remarkable age of 90. The tricentenary was commemorated with a host of celebrations, lectures, and guided walks across the capital, honouring his enduring impact on the City.
Architectural Style and Legacy
Wren is of course best known for designing and overseeing the building of St Paul’s Cathedral completed in 1711, taking approximately 35 years to build, which is not an unusual time to build a cathedral but it takes a considerable chunk out of one man’s life!
He was also appointed to a team who were tasked with rebuilding the City after the Great Fire of London in 1666.
In 1669 he was made the King’s chief architect, a position he held for many years building and refurbishing public buildings and royal palaces.
In 1670 he was nominated as one of a group of three who were to lead a commission to rebuild many City churches – they finally numbered 55 if you include the four that were actually lying outside the City. 24 of the City churches, apart from St Paul’s Cathedral, are still intact.
The work on these churches was characterised by a wide variety of elevational treatments, in the case of many, displaying ingenuity as they were on cramped and irregular sites, whose boundaries could not be extended.
He introduced the Baroque style to Britain though more restrained than on the Continent, often combining it with Gothic and the neoclassical style when it took his fancy, and to greater or lesser effect.
In his role as the King’s chief architect, Wren was responsible for such buildings as Hampton Court Palace, Old Royal Naval College Greenwich, the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Marlborough House for the Duchess of Marlborough, and many restorations and refurbishment including those at Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Downing Street.
Personal Life and Career
But what kind of a man was he? One of Wren’s friends Robert Hooke scientist and architect and a fellow Westminster school boy said of him: ’‘there scarce ever met in one man so great perfection such a mechanical hand and so philosophical mind.”
He was a kind of English renaissance man as having started with a keen interest in Astronomy, he became Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College aged 25 but then moved in the direction of architecture and of course general building project management as he ended up being, perhaps as much an administrator and promoter of buildings, doing the wheeling and dealing at higher levels to get schemes funded and approved, as opposed to being an architect per se.
Wren’s interest in architecture developed from his study of physics and engineering and his direction was confirmed by a visit to Paris, where he was inspired by the baroque style of the Italian architect Bernini but also due to the fact that his career in astronomy did not have the most clear direction.
Political and Social Context
Of course, religion dominated the political landscape during his lifetime with tensions between Catholicism, Protestantism and within the latter, the Puritan cause. Born in Wiltshire, into a staunchly Royalist family, Wren’s father being rector of the parish when he was 6 his father was invited to Windsor into the royal household as Chaplain to Charles I.
The family now mixed with the grandest of families, they were part of the establishment. He was sent to Westminster School where he survived the Cromwell era as Busby the Head did not care what people thought about him teaching Royalists.
However, in 1641 just before the start of the English Civil Wars there were attacks by a rabble on Westminster Abbey, whilst Wren was studying there and the pupils were drawn into the fray as stockpiles of muskets and powder were made in the college grounds. He experienced other occasions too when he had to move on due to his family being’ on the wrong side’ during the age of Cromwell. It must have given him a profound sense of insecurity.
It is clear that Wren was ambitious, not in a showy way, but for example he was there ready to offer the King plans of how to rebuild St Pauls after the Great fire, and he was there ready to step into the post of Chief Architect to the King when the position became vacant.
As is demonstrated by his experience of working for the Duchess of Marlborough and Westminster School, he did not always get his way with the client or he did occasionally get involved in slightly shabby building methods as was the case with Downing Street, as a result he comes over as slightly weary and brow beaten by the time of these commission.
Academic Background
Wren was a high achiever long before he designed buildings, according to his preschool tutor he was a mathematics genius and extremely inventive- there is a very long list of his inventions and he studied at Wadham College Oxford from aged 14 which provided the most progressive science education in Britain, if not the world, at the time.
Freemasonry and Status
He was an active freemason all his life and he was elected Westminster MP between 1685 and 1702 though he seldom attended and there is some evidence that he promoted free masons which would have increased his status within the Lodge and of course he was a founder member of the Royal Society and also was President. It does appear that he quietly sought power and status, though that is not an unusual trait.
Later Years
Wren was considered a slight man but one with incredibly good manners and civility, who was occasionally sarcastic but even tempered and not a great talker – he had been delicate as a child and was not so strong as an adult though he lived to a great age.
He married twice: Faith Coghill, soon after he achieved the position of king’s architect, a prudent time to marry, once he was in a secure job, and he remarried to Jane Fitzwilliam quite soon after Faith sadly died, but Jane only survived 2 years, and he never married again, perhaps unusual for those times, given his long life.
And there you have it – a glimpse into the man behind the legacy of St Paul’s Cathedral and so much more.
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