 |
Britain Unlimited covers
250 Great British people and what made them famous
Who was Christopher Wren?
Architect and Scientist.
Date and Place of Birth:
20th October 1632. Village Rectory, East Knoyle,
Wiltshire, England.
Family Background:
Father was the Reverend Dr Christopher Wren.
Mother was Mary Cox daughter of a Wiltshire Squire.
Education:
Westminster School, Westminster, London, England.
Wadham College, Oxford, England.
Chronology/Biography of Sir Christopher Wren:
1634: Probable death
of his mother after the birth of her daughter Elizabeth. His father
became Dean of Windsor.
1642: At the outbreak
of the English Civil War his Uncle Matthew Wren Bishop of Ely was
imprisoned in the Tower and the Deanery at Windsor was attacked.
The Wren family were forced to move out and his father went to live
in Bletchingham, Oxfordshire with his daughter and son-in-law William
Holder the mathematician.
1646: Left Westminster
School but did not immediately go to university, but encouraged
by Holder began to experiment in astronomy. He became an assistant
to Dr Charles Scarburgh to sustain himself and helped him with his
anatomical experiments.
1649: Entered Oxford
University.
1652: Made observations
of the Planet Saturn.
1653: Granted an
M. A. by Oxford University.
1653-57: Lived in
College as a Fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford.
1657: Professor
of Astronomy, Gresham College, London.
1661: Savilian Professor
of Astronomy Oxford. Asked to work on the designs for fortifications
at Tangiers harbour but turned it down.
1662: Foundation
of the Royal Society of London of which Wren was a founder Member.
1663: Visited Rome
to study the Theatre of Marcellus amongst other things. Worked on
repairs to the old St Paul’s Cathedral.
1664: Sent designs
for the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford to the Royal Society. This
was to first of his projects to include a dome.
1665: Visited Paris
to study the buildings.
1666: Appointed
Commissioner for Rebuilding the City of London after the great fire.
Plaque Commemorating the site of the Great Fire of London
in 1666 which started in Pudding Lane
(© Anthony Blagg)
1669: Appointed
Surveyor of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Surveyor General of the King’s
Works.
1668: Building of
his designs for Emmanuel College Chapel in Cambridge.
1669: Working extensively
on optics.
1670: Became the
Surveyor for the Rebuilding of 51 of the City’s churches.
1671: Beginning
of the construction of The Monument to the Great Fire of London
of 1666. It took six years to build and was completed in 1677.
The Monument to the Great Fire of London designed by Christopher
Wren
(© Anthony Blagg)
1672:
Birth of his son Gilbert.
1674: Second plan
and model for St Paul’s Cathedral unveiled as the first designs
were not felt grand enough by the City of London Council. This was
Greek in inspiration and was rejected by the Clergy for not being
Christian enough. He set to work on a third design based on a Latin
cross with a dome.
1675: Foundation
Stone laid for St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Birth of his son Christopher.
Receives commission from King Charles the Second to build a Royal
Observatory for the new Astronomer Royal, Flamstead. Charles was
keen for his officials to solve the longitude problem for the safe
navigation at sea which would make his navy and maritime traders
more successful than other world rivals. (September) Death of his
Wife Faith.
St Paul's Cathedral. Wren's towering masterpiece.
(© Anthony Blagg)
1675: Birth of his
son Christopher.
1676: Designs for
Trinity College, Cambridge.
1677: Birth of his
daughter Jane.
1679: Birth of his
son William.
1680-82: President
of the Royal Society.
1682: Designs for
the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
The Royal Hospital Chelsea, designed by Christopher Wren
for ex-servicemen
and now the home of the Chelsea Pensioners.
The statue is of the founder King Charles the Second.
(© Anthony Blagg)
1696: Appointed
Surveyor of the Royal Naval Hospital in Greenwich, now the National
Maritime Museum.
1699: Appointed
Surveyor of Westminster Abbey.
1703: Death of his
daughter Jane.
1716: Resigned as
Surveyor of the Royal Naval Hospital in Greenwich.
Marriages:
1. 7th December 1669 to Faith Coghill at Temple
Church, London. (died 1675).
2. 24th February 1677 to Jane Fitzwilliam at Chapel Royal, Whitehall,
(died 1679).
Date and Place of Death:
25th February 1723. St. Jame's Street, London,
England.
Age at Death:
91.
Site of Grave:
St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England.
Wren's Grave and Plaque St Paul's Cathedral, London
(© Anthony Blagg)
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
St. Paul's Cathedral.
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Greenwich Observatory.
Kensington Palace State Apartments.
St Nicholas Cole Abbey
St Nicholas Cole Abbey one of the many London churches
rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire of London
(© Anthony Blagg)
St. Mary-Le-Bow, Cheapside.
St. Stephen, Walbrook.
St. Anne's and St Agnes, Gresham Street.
St. Mary, Abchurch.
The Royal Hospital Chelsea.
The Monument. (Commemorating the Great Fire of London).
Marlborough House, Pall Mall.
Hampton Court Palace (Part of)
The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich looking towards Canary
Wharf.
Wren designed most of the buildings including the chapel on the right
and the painted Hall on the left where Nelson's
body lay in state after Trafalgar.
(© Anthony Blagg)
OXFORDSHIRE:
Fawley Court, Henley-on-Thames.
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.
The Sheldonian Theratre, Oxford. Designed by Wren
and now used for university degree ceremonies amongst other things
(© Anthony Blagg)
|
|
Britain
Unlimited online since 2000  |
|
