Sai
Prateek Narayan
ARC561:
Survey of British Architecture | Fall 2013
Professors
Richard Tames | David Thompson
Survey
Tour
5
December 2013
Everlasting Wren Churches
The
1600s in London was a clear example of a historic city having the best of times
as well as the worst of times. As
King James I was to be crowned in 1603, a horrendous plague broke out, taking
at least thirty thousand victims into its grasp. The theatre, which London is
now renowned for, gained massive popularity, leading to the post-theatre
celebrations among the higher society and aristocracy. Towards the end of the first quarter of
the century, with the accession of Charles I, the “London Season” came into
existence. With the building of Lincoln’s Inn Fields and Covent Garden by the famed
Inigo Jones under way. However, dark clouds lay ahead in London’s blue-skied
progression. Without wholesome forms of sanitation, the overpopulated city of
London was hit by a copious number of plagues, the most infamous of them being
the Great Plague, which took the lives of over a fifth of London’s then
population. But, the worst was still yet to come.
In
1666, a small fire broke out at a bakery on Pudding Mill Lane that briskly
spread westwards across the City of London. Unfortunately, the then methods of firefighting
involved tearing down the buildings to prevent the spreading of the fire.
However, due to the decisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London at the time, these
fire prevention methods were extremely delayed. As a result of this
indecisiveness, the bakery fire had swollen into a firestorm, making the
demolishing technique obsolete. After three whole days of the fire engulfing buildings and
people in its path, the loss of eastern winds and use of gunpowder to create
firebreaks led to the dying out and further spreading of the fire. Needless to
say, there were innumerable casualties and victims of this great conflagration.
It is recorded that over thirteen thousand homes, eighty churches, 40 company
halls and several landmark buildings perished in this regrettable event. It is
fortunate, however, to mention that the people of London were able to get back
on their feet and rebuild their city anew. The rebuilding of the great
cathedral of St Paul’s, as well as fifty other churches was left to a man who
could probably be considered as England’s most renowned architect, Sir
Christopher Wren.
It
goes without saying that Sir Christopher Wren could be considered as one of
England’s most acclaimed architects in history. Apart from being an esteemed
architect, Wren was a disciplinary in various fields, such as physics,
astronomy and mathematics. Highly influenced by Vitruvius and Bernini, Wren’s
rise to fame occurred in the mid-17th century, when he was
captivated to redesign St Paul’s Cathedral, which at the time was close to
crumbling down. Stimulated by his trip to Paris in 1665, Wren examined the
drawings of Bernini, thereby resulting in his ideas for a first design of St
Paul’s Cathedral. However, the Great Fire that terrorized London the year after
hindered his submittal for the design. Appointed as the King’s Surveyor of
Works in the late 1660s, Wren played a significant role in the rebuilding of
the city, despite the fact that his city plans were never adopted. It was at
this time that his acclamation for rebuilding over fifty churches in London
came into existence. The six churches that this tour would be surveying would
be St. Clement Danes, St. Brides, St. Paul’s, St. Mary-le-Bow, St. Mary
Aldermary, and St. Stephen Walbrook.
It
may sound like these churches, as beautiful as they seem, stand in London to
this day untouched. However, in 1941, in the midst of the Second World War, the
United Kingdom was severely bombed by Germany. Attacked 71 times in a span of
37 weeks, there were over forty thousand civilians considered dead, and over
one hundred thousand injured and wounded. Needless to say, the bombs destroyed
several buildings, including multiple Wren churches. What is surprising to
note, however, is the fact that St Paul’s cathedral was left unscathed. This
was because, apart from The St Paul’s Watch, an organization started by Winston
Churchill, installed sources of water around the roof, preventing the cathedral
from catching fire on a daily basis. It is also startling to note that the
Germans who bombed London chose to not bomb the dome of St. Paul’s, it being a
convenient navigational aid in both daytime and nighttime.
St
Clement Danes was one of the later churches built by Wren after the Great Fire
of 1666. A church has been situated on this site for over a thousand years.
Although the Danes built the original church in the 9th century,
Wren rebuilt this church after the Great Fire, despite it being one of the
lesser-damaged churches, in 1681. The baroque church, albeit built in the late
17th century, also constituted of a steeple erected by James Gibbs
in 1720. After being destroyed in the London Blitz in 1941, it was rebuilt in
the late 1950s, to be named as the central church for the Royal Air Force. This
church, which is signature of all Wren churches, has a wide tunnel-vaulted
nave, with narrow groin-vaulted aisle bays with galleries. However, what is
unique to this church is the fact that the aisles of this church extend towards
the sides of the chancel, creating ambulatories.
Walking
down the Strand, onto Fleet Street, we come across another of Wren’s post-Fire
and Blitz churches, the church of St. Brides. Located on the outskirts of the
City of London, this church is one of the few London churches that can easily
be marked on the London skyline, the spire being the tallest from all of Wren’s
churches. Being that the Romans constructed a church in this spot, much before
the name of St. Brides was brought into the light, it is of considerable
significance to the city of London. Rebuilt in 1701 by Wren, this spire is
currently under intensive care, as the spire is said to be losing its
structural integrity. Like the several other buildings in London at the time,
this church was severely damaged in both The Great Fire of 1666 and the London
Blitz of 1940. Godfrey Allen, an architect extremely well versed on his
predecessor, reconstructed the church post-Blitz, as per Wren’s drawings.
Amazingly, when the restoration of the St. Brides was underway, a discovery of
Roman crypts were made on site, uncovering thousands of human remains, some
dating to the time of the Great Plague of 1665. Similar to the church of St
Clement Danes on The Strand, this church has a wide tunnel-vaulted nave along
with groin-vaulted aisle bays. What is unique about this church, apart from its
octagonal tiered spire, are its oval-shaped clerestory windows. These windows
pierce through the tunnel-vaulted roof, which is held up by Tuscan double
columns. The eastern end of the church ends in an outward projecting chancel,
as well as a tripartite window, which seems to reminisce the motif of the
renowned Triumphal Arch.
Walking
towards the City of London, past St. Paul’s, we arrive at the third stop on the
tour, the church of St Mary-le-Bow. Yet again another baroque church by Wren,
this was rebuilt by Wren after The Great Fire in 1680. After the London Blitz
in 1941, this church was rebuilt fifteen years later under the direction of
Laurence King. This church, similar to both St. Clement Danes and St. Brides
also has a wide tunnel-vaulted nave, and similar to St. Brides, also holds
pierced clerestory windows. The narrow aisles, which are unique to this church,
have transverse tunnel vaults. This church is considered to be one of the most
important churches of London, St. Paul’s being the first. Like the other
churches we have seen on the tour, this church was decimated by the German
bombing London during The London Blitz. The bells of this church are what make
it unique, as they have been threaded into London’s history for several years.
It is an urban form of superstition that says a true resident of London is born
within the ringing of the Bow bells. These bells have been used in several
forms of order and symbolism over the past centuries. One of the first recorded
references is dated to the mid-15th century, where the bow bells
were used as an indicator of a curfew, which ceased to exist in the late 19th
century. The church bells were also used to signify the end of a working day and
also in honor of a noted figure’s death. The bells, originally starting from
one, grew to a startling dozen in 1881. It is surprising to note that when the
bells were declared a matter of national concern when they were considered too
damaged to be rung. It truly depicts that this church is so deeply entwined
within the tradition and history of London that it cannot be let go of easily.
The
next church on this tour is located on Bow Lane, St. Mary Aldermary. Unlike all
of the churches so far surveyed on this tour, this is one of the few of the
Wren churches that is designed in a Gothic Style. Assumed to be of medieval
origin, this church was first rebuilt in 1510. However, during The Great Fire,
the church was burned down to a major extent, barely leaving parts of the wall
and tower standing. Unlike the churches of St. Clement Danes, St. Brides and
St. Mary-le-Bow, this church has a six-bay long nave, holding up gothic arches
and undeniably impressive fan vaults with central circular elements., quite
similar to those of King’s College Chapel in Cambridge or the Bath Abbey.
Unlike the past churches on the tour, the church of St. Mary Aldermary has a
flat chancel at the end of the nave, with immaculate ornamentation and a
stained glass finish. What is incredibly unique about this is that due to the
church being built in the midst of existing buildings, the chancel is slightly
angled to accommodate for the context.
Finally,
the last church is St. Stephen Walbrook. This church was burnt completely to
the ground during the Great Fire, and with its stone façade, due to the fire,
was scorched into lime. The need to rebuild this church was so dire, that King
Charles II appointed the commission as fast as he could, lest the church is
built somewhere else, which was when Sir Christopher Wren built this baroque church.
The old street plan was retained and timber buildings were banned, for obvious
reasons. Unlike the regular church plans of the past churches visited, this is
rectangular in plan. Originally, Wren had designed the church to include an
entrance on the northern end of the church. Unfortunately, due to the presence
of a market and slaughterhouse, the entrance had to be barred in order to
prevent the rancid odor from the exposed meat. The portico for the imagined
entrance was intended to have colonnades on either side, very similar to the
style of a forum from ancient Rome. A statue of King Charles II, in honor of
his prompt attempt to commission the building of this church was erected at the
time as well. It is interesting to note that the present dome is based off of
the dome for St. Paul’s, which consisted of a dome centered on a dozen
Corinthian columns. The fascination for this sort of dome came to Wren upon his
visit to France. When comparing the domes of St. Paul’s and St. Stephen
Walbrook, it is easily discernable that the dome of St. Stephen Walbrook was
more of a preparatory attempt for the same of St. Paul’s. The dome of St.
Paul’s was made with masonry techniques, whereas St. Stephen Walbrook, being
several times smaller was made with similar construction materials to parish
churches – lath and plaster, over highly precise carpentry frames. In contrast
to the dome, the walls of this church are majorly made of stone, similar to the
churches mentioned so far.
It
is absolutely remarkable how Sir Christopher Wren
attempted to carry out his project of reconstructing over fifty of London’s
churches after the Great Fire, despite his constant focus on St. Paul’s
Cathedral. This cathedral, albeit considered one of the many buildings that
required maintenance after the Great Fire, was the center of focus in Wren’s
mind, even after completion. It goes without saying that each of the churches
mentioned above have been of vital importance to London’s history, whether to
instigate order and instill regulations, or as an outlet to reach for a higher
power than humanly possible in trying times. These churches were brought down
to ashes as a result of the severe conflagration of the Great Fire of 1666, and
were reconstructed with the aid of Sir Christopher Wren’s undying perseverance
to seeing it done. However, despite these churches, as well as several more
being demolished in The London Blitz during the Second World War, these
churches were considered of such dire need that they were reconstructed as
quickly as possible, reinforcing the fact that the residents of London aim to
stay true and respect their history and heritage to help them get through the
struggles of everyday life.
Works
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