As our City of London walks wend their way through the City one name crops up time and time again and that name is Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who designed St Paul’s Cathedral and the man who, more than any other helped shape the London skyline that we know today.
You will see examples of his work on virtually every one of our London walks, but who was he and how did he come to transform the London skyline?
Sir Christopher Wren was born on 20th October 1632 in Wiltshire. Given that today he is probably best known as the architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral, it might come a something of a surprise to learn that architecture wasn’t his main vocation in life.
He was an astronomer, a mathematician and an enthusiastic pursuer of almost every branch of science and mathematics who came to architecture via his interest in geometry and mechanics.
As a very young man he had been responsible for several inventions. These included a mechanical weather recorder, a device to enable people to read in the dark, and a sign alphabet to help the hearing impaired which was a precursor of modern sign language.
His first architectural commission came in 1663 when his uncle, the Bishop of Ely, invited him to create a design for the chapel of Pembroke College in Cambridge. His next commission was the Sheldonian Theatre in oxford which was begun in 1664.
Had it these been his only design he would, no doubt, have been remembered today but would certainly not have been the man who, more than any other, gave London the look and feel that it has today and which participants on our many and varied London walks can experience and admire.
Our next blog will look at how his opportunity to shine came in 1666 when the Great Fire of London destroyed the City of London and Wren just happended to be the right man in the right place at the right time.
Tags: 1666. Pembroke College Chapel Cambridge, London Skyline, London walks, Sheldonian Theatre Oxford, Sir Christopher Wren, St Paul's Cathedral, The Great Fire of London
