Sir Christopher Wren

The English "Wrenaissance"

Sir Christopher Wren, along with his associates, represented the dominant force in late seventeenth and early eighteenth-century architecture. By far his greatest work, St. Paul's Cathredral in London, was begun in 1675 and completed in 1711. For the next two centuries, and until the advent of the modern skyscraper, St. Paul's dominated the London skyline as a symbol of the stability of the Church of England and English government and society.

Perhaps the single greatest opportunity for Wren's career was also one of the great catastrophes for the city of London: the Great Fire of 1666. This fire destroyed most of old London, including old St. Paul's and many churches. Wren came along at the perfect time to benefit from this tragedy. There are now dozens of Wren churches in London, and many more by his two associates Nicholas Hawksmoor and Sir John Vanbrugh. Besides St. Paul's Wren's second greatest achievement is Greenwich Hospital (also worked on by Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh), begun in 1696. The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford is by Wren, and his direct influence even reached America in the Wren Building of William and Mary College in Virginia.

One of the most interesting alterations in building style to occur in England in the late seventeenth century was Wren's remodeling of Henry VIII's Tudor Hampton Court Palace. The difference between the Tudor entrance and the Wren-ovated garden front is remarkable.