Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren
Position	Designer of St. Paul's Cathedral

Overview

This page details the life of Christopher Wren .

Background

Christopher Wren is perhaps most famous as the designer of St. Paul's Cathedral after the fire of 1666 destroyed the old St. Paul's Cathedral.

Education

He graduated from Wadham College in Oxford, England studying Latin and the works of Aristotle. He also studied astronomy and mathematics at Oxford, eventually receiving his Masters in 1653. He served as a Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, where he would later form the Royal Society.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Wren was started to design the new version of St. Paul's Cathedral in 1666, which was approved for construction later that year. He spent the next 36 years of his life building the cathedral to it's completion in 1711. The cathedral had gone through multiple redesigns, Wren fought with both the clergy and his critics about the design; the clergy found it to similar to Roman Catholic cathedral designs and therefore it went against the political and religious views of England. Wren modified his designs to appease the clergy but left some of the areas subject to change, getting his way with a more baroque style cathedral as the end result.

Buildings Designed

1. St. Paul's Cathedral
2. Westminster Abbey
3. Monument to the Great Fire of London
4. Old St. Paul's Cathedral
5. Kensington Palace
6. Temple Church