Wren, Sir Christopher 1632-1723
English architect

Born in East Knoyle, Wiltshire, he was the son of Dr Christopher Wren, dean of Windsor. He was educated at Westminster and Wadham College, Oxford, became a Fellow of All Souls, distinguished himself in physics and mathematics, and helped to perfect the barometer. In 1657 he became Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College in London, but in 1661 returned to Oxford as Savilian Professor of Astronomy. Before leaving London, Wren had, with Robert Boyle, John Wilkins and others, laid the foundation of the Royal Society. In 1663 he was engaged by the dean and chapter of St Paul's to make a survey of the cathedral with a view to repairs. The first work built from a design by Wren was the chapel at Pembroke College, Cambridge (1663), and from 1663-66 he designed the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford and the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. The Great Fire of London (1666) presented him with a unique opportunity to redesign the whole city, embracing wide streets and magnificent quays, but his scheme was never implemented. In 1669 he was appointed Surveyor-General and was chosen architect for the new St Paul's (1675-1710) and for more than 50 other churches in place of those destroyed by the fire. He also designed the Royal Exchange Greenwich Observatory, the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, additions to Hampton Court, Buckingham House, Marlborough House, and the western towers and north transept of Westminster Abbey. In 1684 he was appointed comptroller of the works at Windsor Castle, and in 1698 Surveyor-General of Westminster Abbey. He was buried in St Paul's, where his monument reads Si monumentum requiris, circumspice ('If you seek a monument, look around you').

Bibliography: J N Summerson, Sir Christopher Wren (1953)