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Christopher Wren's Cathedral

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Does St. Stevens church demonstrate what Christopher Wren intended for the church that stands today? Christopher Wren was one of pioneering architects of the rebuilding of the London Churches after the great fire of London in 1666. However, before he was an architect he was a scientist, mathematician, an astronomer and had gathered interests in cosmology, mechanics, microscopy, surveying, medicine and meteorology. In this essay I will be looking at St. Stephens, a church he was commissioned to re-build/re-design and ask whether the way in which he wanted to deign St. Stephens according to writings on other churches of the time in London he was rebuilding, had gone to plan. Before the great London fire, he had been appointed architect of the new St Paul’s Cathedral. He was asked to re-design the London churches in 1670, four years after the great fire of London …show more content…

Stephens has a rather square footprint when compared to the more rectangular footprint that was the original plan in 15th century. This could be because of the fact Wren wanted the churches to be brought out from the “obscure lanes” and “brought forward into the streets” (p.135, Wren in Pierre). There is also the fact that the original plan was a lot larger than the plan now and he wanted there to be a “here and see” aspect, the new religious reform also meant that having a large church was seen as “vain” now (p135 Wren in Pierre) The work between longitudinal and latitudinal is expressed in St Stephen Walbrook due to “double aisles flanking the nave on the main east-west axis, but towards the far end of the church the aisles are gradually peeled away to reveal the twelve columns needed to support the dome. The cross axis of the dome was determined by a side door, long closed up, from the adjacent Stocks Market (now the site of the Mansion House” • Look at photos taken on site • Context map to show change over the years • Show mansion

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