Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren is England’s greatest-ever architect, responsible for many of London’s finest buildings.

Wren’s early life

Christopher Wren was born into a family of highly placed clergymen in 1632. His privileged family life gave him an excellent education, and he distinguished himself in many disciplines.

In his early years he created many useful objects – an instrument to measure angles, instruments for surveying, and machines to lift water. At All Soul’s College in Oxford he experimented with opium as an anaesthetic, and worked on blood transfusions. He even invented a brand new language for the deaf and dumb.

Christopher Wren, the architect

In 1661 Wren helped to found the Royal Society, and returned to Oxford as the Professor of Astronomy – a position he held until 1673. There he experimented with sundials, and built a working model of the solar system. He very nearly came up with an explanation of the rings of Saturn, but was beaten to the punch by a man called Huygens.

No less a luminary than Sir Isaac Newton listed Wren as one of the finest mathematicians of the day – thirty years before he himself made his greatest contribution.

His extensive knowledge brought him into close contact with the King, and he was consulted on the design for the fortifications at Tangier. He was then promoted to the post of Surveyor General of the Royal Work. Trips to Rome and Paris followed, and his interest in buildings grew.

Wren’s first real architectural job was designing a chapel at Pembroke College in 1663. He also built the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Wren was given the job of redesigning the city. He came up with a road plan of straight lines and broad avenues, but problems over property rights led to it being dropped.

He was given instead the task of rebuilding St. Paul’s Cathedral, which had been gutted in the flames. His first design was turned down by the LCC, and his second by the clergy. His third and final design was produced with a scale model that’s still on display.

Wren was forty-three years old when work commenced, and seventy-eight when it was finished. He died twelve years after that, and was buried in the crypt.

Other buildings by Christopher Wren

Wren also built the Royal Exchange, the Chelsea Hospital, the Royal Naval College in Greenwich and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He also enlarged Hampton Court Palace and added fifty-two churches to the capital.

• Historical pictures

Historical pictures

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St. Paul’s Cathedral
St. Paul’s Cathedral, built after the Great Fire in 1666, boasts the second largest dome in Europe.