About the author. One of them, by Richard Newcourt, which proposed a rigid grid with churches in squares, was however later adopted for the laying-out of Philadelphia, USA. 40 – the number of days after the great fire ended that the drought also ended, with a major downpour that started on 10 October 1666 … Some streets were widened or straightened, bottlenecks eased, and one new street built by carving through private properties: King Street which led from Guildhall to the wharf, (the street's line was much later extended over the river by Southwark Bridge). These grand residences were now occupied by merchants and aldermen, since the aristocracy had been moving to the West End or Covent Garden before the Great Fire and they now decamped with greater speed. Dr. Jackie Craven has over 20 years of experience writing about architecture and the arts. The rebuilding of London was orchestrated by a Rebuilding Commission composed of six men—three appointed by the Crown, including Christopher Wren, and three chosen by the City, including Robert Hooke. The choir was finished for a celebratory service in 1697 (Queen Elizabeth came to another to mark its 400th anniversary in 1997); the dome was completed in 1708, and the cathedral declared finished in 1711. Four sizes were specified in the rebuilding Act - the largest was a house at the back of a courtyard. There is no evidence, for instance, that he planned that broad, straight line of Queen Street and King Street which runs north While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Paperback, Thames & Hudson Ltd, May 1, 1998. London Bridge was not affected, as a previous fire of 1633 had cleared an area at its north end which stopped the flames of 1666 spreading. Geraghty, Anthony. Fifty-one parish churches were rebuilt under the general direction of Christopher Wren (knighted in 1673). Born: October 20, 1632, at East Knoyle in Wiltshire, England, Died: February 25, 1723, in London (age 91). In 1669, King Charles II hired Wren to oversee the reconstruction of all the royal works (government buildings). At first they camped in the fields outside the walls, but within days had dispersed to surrounding villages or other parts of London. Classical: Christopher Wren was familiar with the 1st Century Roman architect Vitruvius and the Renaissance thinker Giacomo da Vignola, who outlined Vitruvius's ideas in "The Five Orders of Architecture." 1st Edition, Oxbow Books; 1st edition, September 16, 2016. His name is synonymous with London architecture. Wren's plan failed, probably because property owners wanted to keep the same land they owned before the fire. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, Sir Christopher Wren designed new churches and supervised the reconstruction of some of London's most important buildings. The Great Fire laid waste to much of medieval London and prompted a transformation in the layout and appearance of the streets. A New Quay, 40 feet wide and from Blackfriars to the Tower, was intended; but although a space was cleared back from the pre-Fire river wall for this purpose, it became gradually obscured by cranes, sheds and then permanent private warehouses. King Charles II had a cousin called King Louis XIV of France who had very grand and magnificent buildings in both Paris and Versailles and he admired these so he created very bold plans for reconstruction of London with the help of John Evelyn, Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren. The Rebuilding of London Act 1666 is an Act of the Parliament of England (19 Car. The Great Fire of London raged for four days in 1666, destroying much of the city and leaving some 100,000 people homeless. £10 – the amount she actually received from the fund. Royal Hospital Chelsea, 2019. Christopher Wren proposed an ambitious plan that would rebuild London with wide streets radiating from a central hub. Reddaway (1940), The Building of London by John Schofield (1984). All houses had to be constructed of brick, though some timber was allowed in practice (especially for the cornice at roof-level), and the external walls were to be of differing thickness depending on the type of house. Fellows of the Royal Society and other natural philosophers (people engaged with what we know today as science) began to influence the look and feel of the city through the rebuilding process. Within five days around 13,200 houses were in ruins and an estimated 100,000 Londoners were homeless. "Wren." Wren's plan failed, probably because property owners wanted to keep the same land they owned before the fire. Read more. If the children know the causes well, and they should do after using the outstanding lesson on that topic, then they should be able to apply their knowledge and imagination to designing a new city that would never burn down in that way again. "Greenwich Hospital." This means that not only are some of the pre-Fire buildings saved for excavation, with walls up to five feet high, but the post-Fire improvements can be seen: wider alleys, and more construction in brick. Much has been made of the apparent newness of these houses and the related phenomenon of residential squares. By the time of Ogilby and Morgan's map of the City in 1676 all the area of the Fire had been rebuilt with the exception of some of the sites of parish churches. 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