Editing Christopher Wren

{{Short description|English architect (1632–1723)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{CS1 config|mode=cs1}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = [[Sir]]
| name              = Christopher Wren
| honorific_suffix  = {{postnominals|country=GBR|PRS|size=100%}}
| image             = Christopher_Wren_by_Godfrey_Kneller_1711.jpg
| caption           = ''[[Portrait of Sir Christopher Wren]]'' (1711)
| birth_date        = {{OldStyleDateDY|30 October|1632|20 October}}
| birth_place       = [[East Knoyle]], Wiltshire, England
| death_date        = {{OldStyleDateDY|8 March|1723|25 February}}<br>(aged<!-- All discussions on his age are here: Talk:Christopher_Wren/Archive_2#Age_at_death_discrepancy --> 90)<ref>From the 12th century to 1752, the legal year in England began on 25 March [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]]. Wren died in 1722 O.S. according to the pre-1752 calendar (see Paul Welberry Kent, Allan Chapman, eds., ''Robert Hooke and the English Renaissance'', Gracewing Publishing, 2005, p. 47).</ref>
| death_place       = [[St James's]], London, England
| resting_place     = St Paul's Cathedral, London
| footnotes         = 
| field             = [[Architecture]], [[physics]], [[astronomy]] and [[mathematics]]
| academic_advisors = [[William Oughtred]]
| notable_students  = 
| workplaces        = [[All Souls' College, Oxford]]
| alma_mater        = [[Wadham College, Oxford]]
| party             = [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]]
| known_for         = Designer of [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|54 London churches]], including [[St Paul's Cathedral]], as well as many notable secular buildings in London after the [[Great Fire of London|Great Fire]]
| spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Faith Coghill|1669|1675|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Jane Fitzwilliam|1677|1680|reason=died}}
}}
| children          = 4
| parents           = [[Christopher Wren (priest)|Christopher Wren the Elder]] <br/> Mary Cox
| module            = {{Infobox officeholder| embed = yes
 | office           = [[Surveyor of the King's Works]]
 | term_start       = 1669
 | term_end         = 1718
 | predecessor      = [[John Denham (poet)|John Denham]]
 | successor        = [[William Benson (architect)|William Benson]]
 | office2          = President of the Royal Society
 | order2           = 3rd
 | term_start2      = 1680
 | term_end2        = 1682
 | predecessor2     = [[Joseph Williamson (English politician)|Joseph Williamson]]
 | successor2       = [[Sir John Hoskyns, 2nd Baronet|John Hoskyns]]
 | office3          = Member of the [[English Parliament]]
  | suboffice3      = [[Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Weymouth and Melcombe Regis]]
  | subterm3        = 1701–1702
  | suboffice4      = [[New Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)|New Windsor]]
  | subterm4        = {{daterangedash|6 March 1690|17 May 1690|dmy}}<br >{{daterangedash|11 January 1689|14 May 1689|dmy}}
  | suboffice5      = [[Plympton Erle (UK Parliament constituency)|Plympton Erle]]
  | subterm5        = 1685–1687
}}
}}

'''Sir Christopher Wren''' <small>[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] </small> ({{IPAc-en|r|ɛ|n}};<ref>{{cite book |last=Wells |first=John C. |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |publisher=Longman |edition=3rd |year=2008 |page=908 |isbn=9781405881180}}</ref> {{OldStyleDateDY|30 October|1632|20 October}} – {{OldStyleDateDY|8 March|1723|25 February}})<ref>Here both [[Old Style and New Style dates]] are given, with "Old Style" meaning: according to the [[Julian calendar]] but with the year starting on 1 January.  Dates elsewhere in this article are Old Style in the same way, except where both styles are given.  Using New Style dates for Wren's birth and death, even though he lived in England in the Old Style era, avoids confusion about his age at death.<!-- All discussions on his age are here: Talk:Christopher_Wren/Archive_2#Age_at_death_discrepancy --></ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sir Christopher Wren {{!}} English architect |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Wren |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref> was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the [[history of England]].<ref name="britannica"/> Known for his work in the [[English Baroque architecture|English Baroque]] style,<ref name="britannica"/>  he was accorded responsibility for rebuilding [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|52 churches]] in the [[City of London]] after the [[Great Fire of London|Great Fire]] in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, [[St Paul's Cathedral]], on [[Ludgate Hill]], completed in 1710.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/6-western-towers-c-1685-1710 |title=6. The western towers, c.1685–1710 – St Paul's Cathedral |website=Stpauls.co.uk |access-date=23 January 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/wren_christopher.shtml |language=en-GB |access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref>

The principal creative responsibility for a number of the churches is now more commonly attributed to others in his office, especially [[Nicholas Hawksmoor]]. Other notable buildings by Wren include the [[Royal Hospital Chelsea]], the [[Old Royal Naval College]], Greenwich, and the south front of [[Hampton Court Palace]].

Educated in [[Latin]] and [[Aristotelian physics]] at the [[University of Oxford]], Wren was a founder of the [[Royal Society]] and served as its president from 1680 to 1682.<ref name="britannica" /> His scientific work was highly regarded by [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Blaise Pascal]].

== Life and works ==
Wren was born in [[East Knoyle]] in [[Wiltshire]], the only surviving son of [[Christopher Wren (priest)|Christopher Wren the Elder]] and Mary Cox, the only child of the Wiltshire squire Robert Cox from [[Fonthill Bishop]]. Christopher Sr. was, at that time, the rector of East Knoyle and, later, [[Dean of Windsor]]. It was while they were living at East Knoyle that all their children were born; Mary, Catherine and Susan were all born by 1628, but then several children who were born died within a few weeks of their birth. Christopher was born in 1632. Then, two years later, another daughter named Elizabeth was born. Mary must have died shortly after the birth of Elizabeth, although there does not appear to be any surviving record of the date. Through Mary Cox, however, the family became well off financially for, as the only heir, she had inherited her father's estate.<ref name="historyq">{{Cite web |date=17 May 2003 |title=Question: Wren's connection with Wiltshire |website=[[Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre]] |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Question/Details/131 |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=14 May 2023}}</ref>

As a child Wren "seem'd consumptive".<ref>{{harvnb|Wren|Ames|Wren|1750}}</ref> Although a sickly child, he would survive into robust old age. He was first taught at home by a private tutor and his father. After his father's royal appointment as Dean of [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] in March 1635, his family spent part of each year there, but little is known about Wren's life at Windsor. He spent his first eight years at East Knoyle and was educated by the Rev. William Shepherd, a local clergyman.<ref name="historyq"/>

Little is known of Wren's schooling thereafter, during dangerous times when his father's Royal associations would have required the family to keep a very low profile from the ruling Parliamentary authorities. It was a tough time in his life, but one which would go on to have a significant impact upon his later works. The story that he was at [[Westminster School]] between 1641 and 1646 is substantiated only by ''Parentalia'', the biography compiled by his son, a fourth Christopher, which places him there "for some short time" before going up to [[Oxford]] (in 1650); however, it is entirely consistent with headmaster [[Richard Busby|Doctor Busby]]'s well-documented practice of educating the sons of impoverished Royalists and Puritans alike, irrespective of current politics or his own position.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Christopher Wren |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/architecture-biographies/sir-christopher-wren |website=encyclopedia.com |access-date=31 August 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Wadham College.jpg|thumb|[[Wadham College]], Oxford, where Wren was a student in 1650–51]]
Some of Wren's youthful exercises preserved or recorded (though few are datable) showed that he received a thorough grounding in [[Latin]] and also learned to draw. According to ''Parentalia'', he was "initiated" in the principles of mathematics by [[William Holder]], who married Wren's elder sister Susan (or Susanna) in 1643. His drawing was put to academic use in providing many of the anatomical drawings for the anatomy textbook of the brain, ''Cerebri Anatome'' (1664), published by [[Thomas Willis]], who coined the term "neurology".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-30/april-2017/five-depictions-brain|title=Five depictions of the brain – ''The Psychologist''|work=bps.org.uk|access-date=31 March 2017}}</ref> During this time period, Wren became interested in the design and construction of mechanical instruments. It was probably through Holder that Wren met [[Sir Charles Scarburgh]] whom Wren assisted in his anatomical studies.{{citation needed|date = October 2015}}
Another sister Anne Brunsell, married a clergyman and is buried in [[Stretham]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Pevsner|first=Nikolaus|title=The buildings of England: Cambridgeshire|year=1970|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=0-14-071010-8|authorlink=Nikolaus Pevsner|edition=2nd |page=462}}</ref>

On 25 June 1650, Wren entered [[Wadham College, Oxford]], where he studied Latin and the works of [[Aristotle]]. It is anachronistic to imagine that he received scientific training in the modern sense. However, Wren became closely associated with [[John Wilkins]], the [[Warden of Wadham College|Warden of Wadham]]. The [[Wilkins circle]] was a group whose activities led to the formation of the [[Royal Society]], comprising a number of distinguished mathematicians, creative workers and experimental philosophers. This connection probably influenced Wren's studies of science and mathematics at Oxford. He graduated B.A. in 1651, and two years later received M.A.<ref>{{cite book |last=Downes |first=Kerry |title=Christopher Wren |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=New York |date=2007 |oclc=83977472 |isbn=9780199215249}}</ref>

===1653–1664===
[[File:Templeofrosycross.png|alt=Wren was part of the group around John Wilkins, known as the Invisible College. This is the emblematic image of a Rosicrucian College, an illustration from Speculum sophicum Rhodo-stauroticum, a 1618 work by Theophilus Schweighardt.|thumb|Wren was part of the group around [[John Wilkins]], known as the [[Invisible College]].  This is the emblematic image of a [[Rosicrucian]] College, an illustration from ''Speculum sophicum Rhodo-stauroticum'', a 1618 work by [[Theophilus Schweighardt]]. ]]
After receiving his [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] in 1653, Wren was elected a fellow of [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls' College]] in the same year and began an active period of research and experiment in Oxford.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bolton|first=Glorney|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCkRAQAAMAAJ|title=Sir Christopher Wren|date=1956|publisher=Hutchinson|pages=37|language=en}}</ref> Among these were a number of physiological experiments on dogs, including one now recognized as the first injection of fluids into the bloodstream of a live animal under laboratory conditions. At Oxford he became part of the group around [[John Wilkins]], he was key to the correspondence network known as the [[Invisible College]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Higgitt |first=Rebekah |date=2014-10-20 |title=Google Doodle forgets to celebrate Christopher Wren the man of science |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-h-word/2014/oct/20/google-doodle-forgets-to-celebrate-christopher-wren-the-man-of-science |access-date=2023-02-21 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>  Within the arms of All Souls, the arms of Wren's friend [[Robert Boyle]] appear in the colonnade of the Great Quadrangle, opposite the arms of the [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Hill]] family of [[Shropshire]], close by a sundial designed by Boyle's friend Wren.<ref>{{Cite web |last=History of Science Museum Oxford University |title=The Virtual Oxford Science Walk |url=https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/features/walk/loc5.htm |archive-url=}}</ref>
[[File:Christopher Wren's home in Hampton, UK.jpg|thumb|Christopher Wren's home in Hampton, UK. It is located opposite the Hampton Court Palace's main gate.]]
His days as a fellow of All Souls ended when Wren was appointed Professor of Astronomy at [[Gresham College]], London, in 1657.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Tinniswood|first=Adrian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=en46Z3_MHSAC|title=His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren|date=2002|publisher=Pimlico|isbn=978-0-7126-7364-8|pages=115–129|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Rabbitts|first=Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lK13DwAAQBAJ|title=Sir Christopher Wren|year=2019|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-78442-323-0|pages=13|language=en}}</ref> He was there provided with a set of rooms and a stipend and required to give weekly lectures in both Latin and English.<ref name=":1" /> Wren took up this new work with enthusiasm. He continued to meet the men with whom he had frequent discussions in Oxford. They attended his London lectures and in 1660, initiated formal weekly meetings. It was from these meetings that the Royal Society, England's premier scientific body, was to develop. He undoubtedly played a major role in the early life of what would become the Royal Society; his great breadth of expertise in so many different subjects helped in the exchange of ideas between the various scientists. In fact, the report on one of these meetings reads:

{{blockquote|Memorandum November 28, 1660. These persons following according to the usual custom of most of them, met together at Gresham College to hear Mr Wren's lecture, viz. The [[William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker|Lord Brouncker]], [[Robert Boyle|Mr Boyle]], [[Alexander Bruce, 2nd Earl of Kincardine|Mr Bruce]], [[Robert Moray|Sir Robert Moray]], [[Paul Neile|Sir Paule Neile]], [[John Wilkins|Dr Wilkins]], [[Jonathan Goddard|Dr Goddard]], [[William Petty|Dr Petty]], [[William Ball (astronomer)|Mr Ball]], [[Lawrence Rooke|Mr Rooke]], Mr Wren, [[Abraham Hill|Mr Hill]]. And after the lecture was ended they did according to the usual manner, withdraw for mutual converse.<ref name=MacTutor>{{cite web |url=http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Wren.html |title=Sir Christopher Wren |work=The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive |access-date=30 September 2006}}</ref>}}

In 1662, they proposed a society "for the promotion of Physico-Mathematicall Experimental Learning". This body received its Royal Charter from [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] and "The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge" was formed. In addition to being a founder member of the Society, Wren was president of the Royal Society from 1680 to 1682.<ref name="britannica" />

In 1661, Wren was elected [[Savilian Chair of Astronomy|Savilian Professor]] of [[Astronomy]] at Oxford, and in 1669 he was appointed [[Office of Works|Surveyor of Works]] to Charles II. From 1661 until 1668 Wren's life was based in Oxford, although his attendance at meetings of the Royal Society meant that he had to make periodic trips to London.<ref name=":0" />

The main sources for Wren's scientific achievements are the records of the Royal Society. His scientific works ranged from astronomy, [[optics]], the problem of finding [[longitude]] at sea, [[cosmology]], [[mechanics]], [[microscopy]], [[surveying]], medicine and [[meteorology]]. He observed, measured, dissected, built models and employed, invented and improved a variety of instruments.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Windsor|first=Alan|date=March 1984|title=John Soane: The Making of an Architect Pierre de La Ruffinière Du Prey|journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|volume=43|issue=1|pages=84–85|doi=10.2307/989987|jstor=989987}}</ref>

===1665–1723===
It was probably around this time that Christopher Wren was drawn into redesigning a battered [[St Paul's Cathedral]]. Making a trip to Paris in 1665, Wren studied architecture, which had reached a climax of creativity, and perused the drawings of [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]], the great Italian sculptor and architect, who himself was visiting Paris at the time. Returning from Paris, he made his first design for St Paul's. A week later, however, the [[Great Fire of London|Great Fire]] destroyed two-thirds of the city. Wren submitted his plans for rebuilding the city to King Charles II, although they were never adopted. With his appointment as King's Surveyor of Works in 1669, he had a presence in the general process of rebuilding the city, but was not directly involved with the rebuilding of houses or companies' halls. Wren was personally responsible for the rebuilding of [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|51 churches]]; however, it is not necessarily true to say that each of them represented his own fully developed design.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Wren was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] on 14 November 1673.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Meridew|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luZhAAAAcAAJ|title=A Catalogue of Engraved Portraits of Nobility, Gentry, Clergymen and Others, Born, Resident In, Or Connected with the County of Warwick: Alphabetically Arranged, with Names of the Painters and Engravers, ... to which are Added Numerous Biographical Notices, ...|date=1848|publisher=|pages=77|language=en}}</ref> This honour was bestowed on him after his resignation from the Savilian chair in Oxford, by which time he had already begun to make his mark as an architect, both in services to the Crown and in playing an important part in rebuilding London after the Great Fire.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Additionally, he was sufficiently active in public affairs to be returned as [[Member of Parliament]] on four occasions.<ref name=HoC7>{{cite web |title=Sir Christopher Wren, 1632–1723 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/wren-sir-christopher-1632-1723 |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> Wren first stood for [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] in a by-election in 1667 for the [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University constituency]], losing by six votes to Sir [[Charles Wheler]].<ref name=HoC5>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/cambridge-university|title=Cambridge University, 1660–1690 |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> He was unsuccessful again in a by-election for the [[Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford University constituency]] in 1674, losing to [[Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth|Thomas Thynne]].<ref name=HoC6>{{cite web |title=Oxford University, 1660–1690 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/oxford-university |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> At his third attempt Wren was successful, and he sat for [[Plympton Erle (UK Parliament constituency)|Plympton Erle]] during the [[Loyal Parliament]] of 1685 to 1687.<ref name=HoC4>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/plympton-erle|title=Plympton Erle, 1660–1690 |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> Wren was returned for [[Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)|New Windsor]] on 11 January 1689 in the [[1689 English general election|general election]], but his election was declared void on 14 May 1689.<ref name=HoC1>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/constituencies/new-windsor|title=New Windsor, 1660–1690 |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> He was elected again for New Windsor on [[1690 English general election|6 March 1690]], but this election was declared void on 17 May 1690.<ref name=HoC2>{{cite web |title=New Windsor, 1690–1715 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/constituencies/new-windsor |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> Over a decade later he was elected unopposed for [[Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Weymouth and Melcombe Regis]] at the [[December 1701 English general election|November 1701 general election]]. He retired at the [[1702 English general election|general election]] the following year.<ref name=HoC3>{{cite web |title=Weymouth and Melcolme Regis, 1690–1715 |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/constituencies/weymouth-and-melcombe-regis |work=[[The History of Parliament]] |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref>

== Marriage to Faith Coghill Wren ==
Wren's career was well established by 1669, and it may have been his appointment as Surveyor of the King's Works early that year that persuaded him that he could finally afford to marry. In 1669, the 37-year-old Wren married his childhood neighbour, the 33-year-old Faith Coghill, daughter of Sir John Coghill of [[Bletchingdon]]. Little is known of Faith, but a love letter from Wren survives, which reads, in part:

{{blockquote|I have sent your Watch at last & envy the felicity of it, that it should be soe near your side & soe often enjoy your Eye.&nbsp;... .but have a care for it, for I have put such a spell into it; that every Beating of the Balance will tell you 'tis the Pulse of my Heart, which labors as much to serve you and more trewly than the Watch; for the Watch I beleeve will sometimes lie, and sometimes be idle & unwilling&nbsp;... but as for me you may be confident I shall never&nbsp;...<ref>{{harvnb|Tinniswood|2001|p=184}} (Some time earlier, Faith had dropped her wristwatch into a pool of water. It had been sent to Wren in London for it to be repaired. This letter was part of a package.)</ref>}}

This brief marriage produced two children: Gilbert, born October 1672, who suffered from convulsions and died at about 18 months old, and [[Christopher Wren the Younger|Christopher]], born February 1675. The younger Christopher was trained by his father to be an architect. It was this Christopher that supervised the topping out ceremony of St Paul's in 1710 and wrote the famous ''Parentalia, or, Memoirs of the family of the Wrens''. Faith Wren died of [[smallpox]] on 3 September 1675. She was buried in the [[chancel]] of [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] beside the infant Gilbert. A few days later Wren's mother-in-law, Lady Coghill, arrived to take the infant Christopher back with her to Oxfordshire to raise.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

== Marriage to Jane Fitzwilliam ==
[[File:Christopher Wren.jpeg|thumb|right|Wren, portrait {{Circa|1690}} by [[John Closterman]]]]
In 1677, 17 months after the death of his first wife, Wren remarried, this time to Jane Fitzwilliam, daughter of [[William FitzWilliam, 2nd Baron FitzWilliam]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christopher Wren - Biography |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Wren/ |access-date=7 October 2022 |website=Maths History |language=en}}</ref> and his wife Jane Perry, the daughter of a prosperous London merchant.<ref>{{cite web|title=FITZWILLIAM, Hon. Charles (c.1646-89), of Stamford Baron, Lincs.|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/fitzwilliam-hon-charles-1646-89|access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref>

She was a mystery to Wren's friends and companions. [[Robert Hooke]], who often saw Wren two or three times every week, had, as he recorded in his diary, never even heard of her, and was not to meet her till six weeks after the marriage.<ref>{{harvnb|Tinniswood|2001|p=239}}</ref> As with the first marriage, this too produced two children: a daughter Jane (1677–1702); and a son William, "Poor Billy" born June 1679, who was reportedly handicapped in some way and it is also known that he never married.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wren family history |url=https://www.bedfordpark.net/genealogy/wren/sir_christopher.htm |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=bedfordpark.net}}</ref>

Like the first, this second marriage was also brief. Jane Wren is believed to have died of [[tuberculosis]] in September 1680 although this cannot be confirmed.{{cn|date=January 2025}} She was buried alongside Faith and Gilbert in the chancel of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Wren was never to marry again; he lived to be over 90 years old and of those years was married only twice.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lerner |first=Edwin |date=2023-02-03 |title=Sir Christopher Wren – London’s Greatest Architect |url=https://www.guidelondon.org.uk/blog/sir-christopher-wren-londons-greatest-architect/|access-date=2025-01-28 |website=Guide London |language=en}}</ref>

Bletchingdon was the home of Wren's brother-in-law William Holder, who was rector of the local church. Holder had been a Fellow of [[Pembroke College, Oxford]]. An intellectual of considerable ability, he is said to have been the figure who introduced Wren to arithmetic and geometry.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davies |first=C.S.L. |title=The Youth and Education of Christopher Wren |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=123 |issue=501 |pages=300–327 |date=2008 |issn=0013-8266 |jstor=20108454 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cen008}}</ref>

Wren's later life was not without criticisms and attacks on his competence and his taste. In 1712, the ''Letter Concerning Design'' of [[Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury|Anthony Ashley Cooper]], third [[Earl of Shaftesbury]], circulated in manuscript. Proposing a new British style of architecture, Shaftesbury censured Wren's cathedral, his taste and his long-standing control of royal works. Although Wren was appointed to the [[Commission for Building Fifty New Churches|Fifty New Churches Commission]] in 1711, he was left only with nominal charge of a board of works when the surveyorship started in 1715. On 26 April 1718, on the pretext of failing powers, he was dismissed in favour of [[William Benson (architect)|William Benson]].<ref>{{cite ODNB |last=Downes |first=Kerry |title=Wren, Sir Christopher (1632–1723), architect, mathematician, and astronomer |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30019 |year=2004 |access-date=16 June 2019 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/30019}}</ref>

In 1713, he bought the manor of [[Wroxall Abbey|Wroxall]], Warwickshire, from the [[Burgoyne baronets|Burgoyne family]], to which his son [[Christopher Wren the Younger|Christopher]] retired in 1716 after losing his post as Clerk of Works.<ref>{{cite web |title=Parishes: Wroxall |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol3/pp215-220 |publisher=British History Online |access-date=10 September 2018}}</ref> Several of Wren's descendants would be buried there in the [[Wren's Cathedral|Church of St Leonard]].

===Death===
[[File:Crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral with tomb of Christopher Wren.jpg|thumb|Crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, Wren's memorial on the left]]
The Wren family estate was at [[The Old Court House]] in the area of [[Hampton Court]]. He had been given a lease on the property by Queen [[Queen Anne of Great Britain|Anne]] in lieu of salary [[arrears]] for building St Paul's.<ref name="Buchanan">{{cite news |last=Buchanan |first=Clare |title=Sir Christopher Wren's magnificent home up for sale |url=http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/archive/2013/04/11/10345331.Sir_Christopher_Wren_s_magnificent_home_up_for_sale/ |url-status=dead |work=Richmond and Twickenham Times |location=London |date=11 April 2013 |access-date=7 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112175954/http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/archive/2013/04/11/10345331.Sir_Christopher_Wren_s_magnificent_home_up_for_sale/ |archive-date=12 November 2013}}</ref> For convenience Wren also leased a house on [[St James's Street]] in London. According to a 19th-century legend, he would often go to London to pay unofficial visits to St Paul's, to check on the progress of "my greatest work". On one of these trips to London, at the age of ninety, he caught a cold and on 25 February 1723 a servant who tried to awaken Wren from his nap found that he had died in his sleep.<ref>{{harvnb|Tinniswood|2001|p=366}}</ref>

Wren was laid to rest on 5 March 1723. His body was placed in the southeast corner of the crypt of St Paul's. There is a memorial to him in the crypt at St Paul's Cathedral.<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 469: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> beside those of his daughter Jane, his sister Susan Holder, and her husband William.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/Discover-the-Crypt |title=Discover the Crypt – St Paul's Cathedral, London, UK |publisher=stpauls.co.uk |access-date=6 September 2009 |archive-date=30 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430144742/http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History/Discover-the-Crypt |url-status=dead }}</ref> The plain stone plaque was written by Wren's eldest son and heir, Christopher Wren the Younger<ref>{{harvnb|Elmes|1852|p=411}}</ref> The inscription, which is also inscribed in a circle of black marble on the main floor beneath the centre of the dome, reads:
{{cquote|{{lang|la|SUBTUS CONDITUR HUIUS ECCLESIÆ ET VRBIS CONDITOR CHRISTOPHORUS WREN, QUI VIXIT ANNOS ULTRA NONAGINTA, NON SIBI SED BONO PUBLICO. LECTOR SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE Obijt XXV Feb: An°: MDCCXXIII Æt: XCI.}}|20px|20px}}
which translates from Latin as:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Masters |first1=Tom |last2=Fallon |first2=Steve |last3=Maric |first3=Vesna |title=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VpaytmFdQbIC&pg=PA111 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |year=2008 |page=111 |isbn=978-1-74104-712-7}}</ref>
{{cquote|Here in its foundations lies the architect of this church and city, Christopher Wren, who lived beyond ninety years, not for his own profit but for the public good. Reader, if you seek his monument – look around you. Died 25 Feb. 1723, age 91.|20px|20px}}

His [[obituary]] was published in the ''Post Boy'' No. 5244 London 2 March 1723:<ref>{{cite book|page=181|title=The Wren Society Volume XVIII|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1941|editor1-first=Arthur T.|editor1-last=Bolton|editor2-first=H. Duncan|editor2-last=Hendry}}</ref>

<blockquote>
Sir Christopher Wren who died on Monday last in the 91st year of his age, was the only son of Dr. Chr. Wren, Dean of Windsor & Wolverhampton, Registar of the Garter, younger brother of Dr. Mathew ([[sic]]) Wren Ld Bp of Ely, a branch of the ancient family of Wrens of Binchester in the Bishoprick {{sic}} of Durham<br/>
1653. Elected from Wadham into fellowship of All Souls<br/>
1657. Professor of Astronomy Gresham College London<br/>
1660. Savilian Professor. Oxford<br/>
After 1666. Surveyor General for Rebuilding the Cathedral Church of St.Paul and the Parochial Churches & all other Public Buildings which he lived to finish<br/>
1669. Surveyor General till April 26. 1718<br/>
1680. President of the Royal Society<br/>
1698. Surveyor General & Sub Commissioner for Repairs to Westminster Abbey by Act of Parliament, continued till death.<br/>
His body is to be deposited in the Great Vault under the Dome of the Cathedral of St. Paul.
</blockquote>

"The Curious and Entire Libraries of Sir Christopher Wren", and of his son, were auctioned by [[Abraham Langford|Langford]] and Cock at Mr Cock's in Covent Garden on 24–27 October 1748.<ref>{{cite book | last = Cock | first = Christopher | title = A Catalogue of the Curious and Entire Libraries of Sir Christopher Wren, Knt. and Christopher Wren, Esq. his son, etc.| publisher = Christopher Cock | date = 1748 | location = London }}</ref>

==Scientific career==
[[File:Gresham_College,_Perspective,_with_key._Wellcome_M0002426.jpg|thumb|Wren spent a portion of his scientific career at [[Gresham College]] ]]
One of Wren's friends, [[Robert Hooke]], scientist and architect and a fellow [[Westminster School]]boy, said of him "Since the time of [[Archimedes]] there scarce ever met in one man in so great perfection such a mechanical hand and so philosophical mind."

When a fellow of [[All Souls College, Oxford|All Souls]], Wren constructed a transparent beehive for scientific observation; he began observing the Moon, which was to lead to the invention of [[filar micrometer|micrometer]]s for the telescope. According to Parentalia (pp.&nbsp;210–211), his solid model of the Moon attracted the attention of the King who commanded Wren to perfect it and present it to him. 
{{blockquote|text=He contrived an artificial Eye, truly and dioptrically made (as large as a Tennis-Ball) representing the Picture as Nature makes it: The Cornea, and Crystalline were Glass, the other Humours, Water. |source= ''Parentalia'', p. 209}} 
He experimented on terrestrial [[magnetism]] and had taken part in medical experiments while at [[Wadham College, Oxford|Wadham College]], performing the first successful injection of a substance into the bloodstream (of a [[dog]]). In [[Gresham College]], he did experiments involving determining [[longitude]] through magnetic variation and through lunar observation to help with [[navigation]], and helped construct a {{convert|35|ft|m|adj=on}} telescope with Sir Paul Neile. Wren also studied and improved the microscope and telescope at this time. He had also been making observations of the planet [[Saturn]] from around 1652 with the aim of explaining its appearance. His hypothesis was written up in ''De corpore saturni'' but before the work was published, [[Christiaan Huygens|Huygens]] presented his theory of the rings of Saturn. Immediately Wren recognised this as a better hypothesis than his own and ''De corpore saturni'' was never published. In addition, he constructed an exquisitely detailed lunar model and presented it to the king. In 1658, he found the length of an arc of the [[cycloid]] using an exhaustion proof based on dissections to reduce the problem to summing segments of chords of a circle which are in geometric progression.

A year into Wren's appointment as a [[Savilian Chair of Astronomy|Savilian Professor]] in Oxford, the [[Royal Society]] was created and Wren became an active member. As Savilian Professor, Wren studied [[mechanics]] thoroughly, especially [[elastic collision]]s and [[pendulum]] motions. He also directed his far-ranging intelligence to the study of [[meteorology]]: in 1662, he invented the tipping bucket [[rain gauge]] and, in 1663, designed a "weather-clock" that would record temperature, humidity, rainfall and barometric pressure. A working weather clock based on Wren's design was completed by Robert Hooke in 1679.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Introduction of Self-Registering Meteorological Instruments|first=Robert P.|last=Multhauf|journal=United States National Museum Bulletin|date=1961}}{{ISBN?}}</ref>

In addition, Wren experimented on muscle functionality, hypothesizing that the swelling and shrinking of muscles might proceed from a fermentative motion arising from the mixture of two heterogeneous fluids. Although this is incorrect, it was at least founded upon observation and may mark a new outlook on medicine: specialisation.

Another topic to which Wren contributed was optics. He published a description of an engine to create perspective drawings and he discussed the grinding of conical lenses and mirrors. Out of this work came another of Wren's important mathematical results, namely that the [[hyperboloid]] of revolution is a [[ruled surface]]. These results were published in 1669.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1098/rstl.1669.0018|title = Generatio corporis cylindroidis hyperbolici, elaborandis lentibus hyperbolicis accommodati, auth. Christophoro Wren L L D. Et Regiorum Ædificiorum Præfecto, nec non-Soc. Regiæ Sodali|journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London|volume = 4|issue = 48|pages = 961–962|year = 1669|bibcode = 1669RSPT....4..961W|doi-access = free|last1 = Wren|first1 = Christophoro}}</ref> In subsequent years, Wren continued with his work with the Royal Society, although after the 1680s his scientific interests seem to have waned: no doubt his architectural and official duties absorbed more time.

It was a problem posed by Wren that serves as an ultimate source to the conception of Newton's ''[[Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis]]''. [[Robert Hooke]] had theorised that planets, moving [[in vacuo]], describe orbits around the Sun because of a rectilinear inertial motion by the tangent and an accelerated motion towards the Sun. Wren's challenge to [[Edmond Halley|Halley]] and Hooke, for the reward of a book worth thirty shillings, was to provide, within the context of Hooke's hypothesis, a mathematical theory linking [[Kepler's laws]] with a specific force law. Halley took the problem to Newton for advice, prompting the latter to write a nine-page answer, ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]'', which was later to be expanded into the ''Principia''.<ref>[[Ivor Grattan-Guinness|Grattan-Guinness, Ivor]], ed.; ''Landmark Writings in Western Mathematics'', 1st ed., 2005, pp.&nbsp;64–65 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

Mentioned above are only a few of Wren's scientific works. He also studied other areas, ranging from agriculture, [[ballistics]], water and freezing, light and [[refraction]], to name only a few. [[Thomas Birch]]'s ''History of the Royal Society'' (1756–57) is one of the most important sources of our knowledge not only of the origins of the Society, but also the day-to-day running of the Society. It is in these records that most of Wren's known scientific works are recorded.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

==Architectural career==
{{See also|List of works by Christopher Wren}}
Wren was a prominent man of science at the height of the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution seemed to promise a merger of the science of [[mechanics]] and the art of building. In [[Galileo Galilei]]'s ''[[Two New Sciences]]'' the first science is not [[Dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]], for which the book is now better known, but rather the strength of materials, which Galileo had recognized 30 years earlier as a "science that is very necessary in making machines and buildings of all kinds." In 1624 [[Henry Wotton]], the British [[ambassador]] to [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], published a book on architecture in which he analyzed in a rudimentary way the structure of a stone [[arch]]. Moreover, in the 17th century, it was people who would now be called scientists who were awarded the commissions to design and build monumental structures. In [[Turin]], [[Guarino Guarini]], a mathematician, devised the plans for such celebrated buildings as the [[San Lorenzo, Turin|Royal Church of Saint Lawrence]], the [[Chapel of the Holy Shroud]] and the [[Palazzo Carignano]]. In [[Paris]], [[Claude Perrault]], a [[physician]] and an [[Anatomy|anatomist]], designed the [[façade]] of the [[Louvre]] and the observatory of the [[Académie Française]]. In London, it was Wren and Hooke who collaborated as chief architect and city surveyor after the city was devastated by the Great Fire of 1666.

In 1661, just months after taking his post at Oxford, Wren was invited by Charles II to oversee the construction of new harbour defences at Tangier—then-newly [[English Tangier|under British control]]. Wren ultimately excused himself from the King's offer. Letters dated to the end of 1661 note that in addition to the Tangier project, Charles II had also sought Wren for consultation regarding repairs to [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]], the reconstruction of which would ultimately be the architect's magnum opus. Speaking of Wren's vocational transition from academic to architect-engineer, biographer [[Adrian Tinniswood]] writes "the use of mathematicians in military fortification was not unusual... Perhaps Wren also had experience of the business of fortification, more than we know."<ref name=":0" />

=== Early architectural work ===
{{Multiple image
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}}Wren's first known foray into architecture came after his uncle, [[Matthew Wren]], [[Bishop of Ely]], offered to finance a new chapel for [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]]. Matthew commissioned his nephew for the design, finding the architecturally inexperienced Christopher to be both ideologically sympathetic and stylistically deferential. Wren produced his design in the Winter of 1662 or 1663 and the chapel was completed in 1665.

Wren's second, similarly collegiate work followed soon after, when he was commissioned to design Oxford's "[[Sheldonian Theatre|New Theatre]]", financed by [[Gilbert Sheldon]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Geraghty|first=Anthony|date=2002|title=Wren's Preliminary Design for the Sheldonian Theatre|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1568785|journal=Architectural History|volume=45|pages=275–288|doi=10.2307/1568785|jstor=1568785|issn=0066-622X}}</ref> His design for the structure was met with lukewarm to negative reception, with even Wren's defenders admitting the young architect to have not yet been "capable of handling a large architectural composition with assurance".<ref name=":0" /> Adrian Tinniswood credits the building's flaws to "Sheldon's refusal to pay for an elaborate exterior, Wren's inability to find an adequate external expression for a building which was wholly conditioned by the functionality of its interior space and, ...his refusal to bend the knee to classical authority in the way that our experience of eighteenth-century architecture has conditioned us to believe is right."<ref name=":0" /> Prior to the theatre's 1669 completion, Wren had received further commissions for the Garden Quadrangle at [[Trinity College, Oxford]], and the chapel of [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].<ref name=":0" />

Wren left for Paris in July 1665 on his first and only trip abroad. In France, the architect encountered an architectural milieu more closely linked to the ideals of the [[Italian Renaissance]]. Wren also met  Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was "widely acknowledged by contemporaries as the greatest artist of the century". Though Bernini's concrete influence on Wren's designs was transmitted via published plans and engravings, the encounter surely impacted the budding architect and his vocational trajectory.<ref name=":0" />

===St Paul's Cathedral===
[[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London has always been the highlight of Wren's reputation. His association with it spans his whole architectural career, including the 36 years between the start of the new building and the declaration by parliament of its completion in 1711.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}Letters document Wren's involvement in St Paul as early as 1661, when he was consulted by Charles II regarding repairs to the medieval structure.<ref name=":0" /> In the spring of 1666, he made his first design for a dome for St Paul's. It was accepted in principle on 27 August 1666. One week later, however, the Great Fire of London reduced two-thirds of the City to a smoking desert and old St Paul's to ruin. Wren was most likely at Oxford at the time, but the news, so fantastically relevant to his future, drew him at once to London. Between 5 and 11 September, he ascertained the precise area of devastation, worked out a plan for rebuilding the City and submitted it to Charles II. Others also submitted plans. However, no new plan proceeded any further than the paper on which it was drawn. A [[Rebuilding of London Act 1666|Rebuilding of London Act]] which provided rebuilding of some essential buildings was passed in 1666. In 1669, the King's Surveyor of Works died and Wren was promptly installed.

{{Multiple image
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It was not until 1670 that the pace of rebuilding started accelerating. A [[Rebuilding of London Act 1670|second rebuilding act]] was passed that year, raising the tax on coal and thus providing a source of funds for rebuilding of churches destroyed within the [[City of London]]. Wren presented his initial "First Model" for St Paul's. This plan was accepted, and demolition of the old cathedral began. By 1672, however, this design seemed too modest, and Wren met his critics by producing a design of spectacular grandeur. This modified design, called "Great Model", was accepted by the King and the construction started in November 1673. However, this design failed to satisfy the [[Cathedral chapter|chapter]] and clerical opinion generally; moreover, it had an economic drawback. Wren was confined to a "cathedral form" desired by the clergy. In 1674 he produced the rather meagre Classical-Gothic compromise known as the Warrant Design. However, this design, called so from the royal warrant of 14 May 1675 attached to the drawings, is not the design upon which work had begun a few weeks before.

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The cathedral that Wren started to build bears only a slight resemblance to the Warrant Design. In 1697, the first service was held in the cathedral when Wren was 65. There was still, however, no dome. Finally, in 1711 the cathedral was declared complete, and Wren was paid the half of his salary that, in the hope of accelerating progress, [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] had withheld for 14 years since 1697. The cathedral had been built for 36 years under his direction, and the only disappointment he had about his masterpiece was the dome: against his wishes, the commission engaged Thornhill to paint the inner dome in false perspective and finally authorised a [[balustrade]] around the roof line. This diluted the hard edge Wren had intended for his cathedral, and elicited the apt [[Parthian shot|parthian comment]] that "ladies think nothing well without an edging".<ref>Bolton and Hendry, eds., ''The Wren Society'', 20 vols.</ref>

===Later career===

[[File:St_Bride's_Church,_London_-_Diliff.jpg|thumb|[[St Bride's Church]] (1670–84)]]
During the 1670s, Christopher Wren received significant secular commissions. Among many of his notable designs at this time, the [[Monument to the Great Fire of London|monument]] (1671–76)<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> commemorating the Great Fire also involved [[Robert Hooke]], but Wren was in control of the final design, the [[Royal Observatory, Greenwich|Royal Observatory]] (1675–76),<ref name="Downes1988p131">{{harvnb|Downes|1988|p=131}}</ref> and the [[Wren Library]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (1676–84)<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> were the most important ones.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

In 1682, Wren advised that the original statues of the King's Beasts on [[St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle|St George's Chapel, Windsor]] be removed. The pinnacles were left bare until 1925, when replica statues were installed.<ref>{{cite book|last=London|first=H. Stanford|title=The Queen's Beasts|publisher=Newman Neame|date=1953|page=15}}</ref>

By historical accident, all Wren's large-scale secular commissions dated from after the 1680s. At the age of 50 his personal development, as was that of English architecture, was ready for monumental but humane architecture, in which the scales of individual parts relate both to the whole and to the people who used them. The first large project Wren designed, the [[Chelsea Hospital]] (1682–92),<ref name="Downes1988p131" /> does not entirely satisfy the eye in this respect, but met its brief with distinction and such success that even in the 21st century it fulfils its original function. The reconstruction of the stateroom at [[Windsor Castle]] was notable for the integration of architecture, sculpture and painting. This commission was in the hand of [[Hugh May]], who died in February 1684, before the construction finished; Wren assumed his post and finalised the works.
[[File:Chelsea_Royal_Hospital_from_the_north_west.jpg|thumb|[[Royal Hospital Chelsea]] (1682–92)]]
Between 1683 and 1685 he was much occupied in designing the [[King's House, Winchester]], where Charles II had hoped to spend his declining years, but which was never completed. When Wren promised that it would be complete within a year the King, who was conscious of his mortality, replied that " a year is a great time in my life".[[File:Hampton_Court_-_36957889221.jpg|thumb|[[Hampton Court]] (1689–1702)]]After the death of Charles II in 1685, Wren's attention was directed mainly to [[Whitehall]] (1685–87).<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> The new king, [[James II of England|James II]], required a new chapel and also ordered a new gallery, council chamber and a riverside apartment for the [[Mary of Modena|Queen]]. Later, when James II was removed from the throne, Wren took on architectural projects such as [[Kensington Palace]] (1689–96)<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> and [[Hampton Court]] (1689–1700).<ref name="Downes1988p131"/>

The erection of the present [[Windsor Guildhall]] was begun in 1687, under the direction of Sir [[Thomas Fitz]] (or Fiddes) but there is a story that on his death in 1689, the task was taken over by Wren. It was completed at a cost of £2687 – 1s – 6d. The new building was supported around its perimeter by stone columns, providing a covered area beneath as a venue for [[Corn exchange|corn markets]].

The story is widely told that the borough Council demanded that Wren should insert additional columns within the covered area, in order to support the weight of the heavy building above; Wren, however, was adamant that these were not necessary. Eventually, the council insisted and, in due course, the extra supporting columns were built, but Wren made them slightly short, so that they do not quite touch the ceiling, hence proving his claim that they were not necessary. However, there is little evidence that Wren was ever involved in the design or construction of the Guildhall. It is now believed that the story grew out of Wren's connections with Windsor and that his son, also called Christopher Wren, who served as a [[Member of Parliament]] for Windsor, commissioned the statue of [[Prince George of Denmark]] in 1713 on the south end of the building and his name was engraved underneath. The pillars were probably moved into the corn market from the east side of the building when an extension was added in 1829.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Pamela |last1=Marson|first2=Brigitte |last2=Mitchell|title=Windsor Guildhall: History and Tour|year=2015|publisher=Friends of the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum|isbn=9780-9010-3309-3|page=7}}</ref> The gaps at the top of the pillars are now filled with tiles smaller than the capitals.

Wren did not pursue his work on architectural design as actively as he had before the 1690s, although he still played important roles in a number of royal commissions. In 1696 he was appointed Surveyor of [[Greenwich Hospital (London)|Greenwich Naval Hospital]],<ref name="Downes1988p131"/> and in 1698 he was appointed [[Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey|Surveyor of Westminster Abbey]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jardine|2003|p=440}}</ref> He resigned from the former role in 1716 but held the latter until his death, approving with a wavering signature<ref>Westminster Abbey Muniments</ref> [[Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington|Burlington]]'s revisions of Wren's own earlier designs for the great Archway of Westminster School.

==Freemasonry==
Since at least the 18th century, the Lodge of Antiquity No. 2, one of the four founding [[Masonic lodge|Masonic Lodges]] of the [[Premier Grand Lodge of England]] in 1717, has claimed Christopher Wren to have been its Master at the ''Goose and Gridiron'' at St. Paul's churchyard.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manifesto of 1778 issued by The Lodge of Antiquity, formerly The Old Lodge of St Paul, &nbsp;to preserve the Ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry, Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth |url=http://www.lodgeroomus.net/downloadcenter/uploads/manifesto1778.pdf |url-status=dead |publisher=Lodgeroomus.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721114928/http://www.lodgeroomus.net/downloadcenter/uploads/manifesto1778.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2012}}</ref> Whilst he was rebuilding the cathedral he is said to have been "adopted" on 18 May 1691 (that is, accepted as a sort of honorary member or patron, rather than an operative). Their 18th-century maul with its 1827 inscription claiming that it was used by Wren for the foundation stone of St. Paul's, belonging to the Lodge and on display in the Library and Museum of Freemasonry in London, corroborates the story. [[James Anderson (Freemason)|James Anderson]] made the claims in his widely circulated ''Constitutions'' while many of Wren's friends were still alive, but he made many highly creative claims as to the history or legends of Freemasonry. There is also a clear possibility of confusion between the operative workmen's lodges which might naturally have welcomed the boss, and the "speculative" or gentlemen's lodges which became highly fashionable just after Wren's death. By the standards of his time, a gentleman like Wren would not generally join an artisan body{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}; however the workmen of St Paul's cathedral would naturally have sought the patronage or "interest" of their employer, and within Wren's lifetime there was a predominantly gentlemen's Lodge at the ''Rummer and Grapes'', a mile upriver at Westminster (where Wren had been to School).

In 1788, the Lodge of Antiquity thought they were buying a portrait of Wren which now dominates Lodge Room 10, in the same building as the Museum; but it is now identified with [[William Talman (architect)|William Talman]], not Wren. Nevertheless, this recorded event and many old records attest to the fact that Antiquity thought that Wren had been its Master, at a time when it still held its minute books for the relevant years (which were lost by Preston at some date after 1778).

The evidence of whether Wren was a speculative freemason is the subject of the Prestonian Lecture<ref>{{harvnb|Campbell|2011}}</ref> of 2011, which concludes on the evidence of two obituaries and [[Aubrey]]'s memoirs, with supporting materials, that he did indeed attend the closed meeting in 1691, probably of the Lodge of Antiquity, but that there is nothing to suggest that he was ever a Grand Officer as claimed by Anderson.

==Achievement and legacy==
[[File:Wren_Library,_Trinity_College_(cropped).jpg|thumb|The [[Wren Library]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], is one of a number of the architect's commissions that now bear his name]]
Christopher Wren appeared on the reverse of the first British [[Banknotes of the pound sterling|£50 banknote]] (Series D) issued in modern times. The notes were printed between 1981 and 1994, and were in circulation until 1996.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dutton|first=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEJeCQAAQBAJ|title=Financial Meltdown|date=2009|publisher=Infodial|isbn=978-0-9556554-3-2|pages=233|language=en}}</ref>

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In 1997, UNESCO inscribed Wren's [[Greenwich Hospital, London|Greenwich Hospital]] on the [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage]] list, citing the complex's "outstanding architectural and artistic achievements".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maritime Greenwich|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/795/|access-date=10 July 2021|website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|language=en}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Wren |first1=Christopher |last2=Ames |first2=Joseph |last3=Wren |first3=Stephen |title=Parentalia, or, Memoirs of the family of the Wrens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a_k7AQAAMAAJ |year=1750}}

==See also==
* [[List of works by Christopher Wren]]
* [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London]]
* [[Thomas Gilbert (architect)|Thomas Gilbert]], one of Wren's apprentices and adaptant of his architectural style
* [[Gresham Professor of Astronomy]]
* [[List of presidents of the Royal Society]]

Wren appears, or is mentioned in several Restoration-era novels or movies.
* The novel ''[[Hawksmoor (novel)|Hawksmoor]]'' by [[Peter Ackroyd]], which features a fictionalised Christopher Wren
* He also features as an important secondary character in Rosalind Laker's ([[Barbara Ovstedal]]) novel ''Circle of Pearls''.
* He is mentioned in the 2004 film ''[[The Libertine (2004 film)|The Libertine]]'', starring [[Johnny Depp]], [[Rosamund Pike]] and [[John Malkovich]].
* He is referenced in the 3rd season of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
* For the character created by [[Agatha Christie]], see the play ''[[The Mousetrap]]''

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite journal |title=The Architecture of Christopher Wren|first1=Harold|last1=Darn|first2=Robert|last2=Mark|journal=Scientific American|year=1981 |volume=245|issue=1|pages=160–175|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0781-160 |bibcode=1981SciAm.245a.160D }}
* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=James |title=Was Sir Christopher Wren a Freemason? |series=Prestonian Lecture |year=2011 |publisher=privately printed}}
* {{cite book |last1=Danzer |first1=Gerald A.|author2-link=Jorge Klor de Alva|last2=Klor De Alva |first2=J. Jorge |last3=Krieger |first3=Larry S. |title=The Americans |url=https://archive.org/details/americans00mcdo |url-access=registration |publisher=Rand McNally |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-618-37719-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Downes |first=Kerry |title=The Architecture of Wren |publisher=Redhedge |edition=second |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-9513877-0-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Elmes |first=James |title=Sir Christopher Wren and his times |url=https://archive.org/details/sirchristopherw00elmegoog |publisher=Chapman & Hall |year=1852}}
* {{cite book |last=Escott |first=John |title=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-19-422801-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Hart |first=Vaughan |author-link=Vaughan Hart |title=St Paul's Cathedral: Sir Christopher Wren |publisher=Phaedon |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7148-2998-2}}
* Hart, Vaughan (2020) ''Christopher Wren: In Search of Eastern Antiquity''. Yale University Press. ISBN 9781913107079
* Hart, Vaughan, ‘London's Standard: Christopher Wren and the Heraldry of the Monument’, in ''RES: Journal of Anthropology and Aesthetics'', vol.73/74, Autumn 2020, pp.&nbsp;325–39 
* {{cite book|title=On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren|first=Lisa|last=Jardine|author-link=Lisa Jardine|year=2003|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-00-710775-9}} paperback {{isbn|0-00-710776-5}}
* {{cite book|title=His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren|url=https://archive.org/details/hisinventionsofe0000tinn|url-access=registration|first=Adrian|last=Tinniswood|year=2001|isbn= 978-0-224-04298-7|publisher=Jonathan Cape|author-link=Adrian Tinniswood}}
* {{cite book|title=The Lives of the Professors of Gresham College|publisher=John Moore in Bartholomew lane|first=J. |last=Ward|year=1740|url=https://archive.org/details/b30450676}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Christopher Wren}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Wren, Christopher (1632-1723)}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Wren, Sir Christopher|volume=28|pages=843–844|first=John Henry|last=Middleton|author-link=John Henry Middleton}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090216145652/http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=707 'Scientists and Craftsmen in Sir Christopher Wren's London'], lecture by Professor Allan Chapman, [[Gresham College]], 23 April 2008 (available in text, audio and video formats).
* [http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/christopher_wren_freemasonry.html Life and times of Sir Christopher Wren] on a [[Freemasonry]] website
* [http://wrenchurches.in360degrees.co.uk/ View interiors of Wren Churches in 360 degrees]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wren, Christopher}}
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