Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 63.djvu/116

 Cathedral. In 1668 he was called in to execute some considerable repairs at Salisbury Cathedral, for which he made a very full report, replete with valuable practical suggestions (ib. p. 304), and executed some much-needed repairs, and without any alteration to the style of the architecture, of which, in several passages of the report, he speaks in praise. In 1682 he built a new chapel at Queen's College, Oxford. In April 1684 (, p. 244) he repaired the spire of Chichester Cathedral, which had been damaged by the wind exerting too much strain upon the weathercock. This he successfully counteracted by a very skilful device, which is fully described and illustrated in Elmes (pp. 320, 486). The Salisbury report was afterwards published as part of a history of that cathedral (London, 1723, sm. 8vo), but without naming Wren as the author of the report.

Wren built a new custom-house in 1668, but this was burnt down in 1718. Its successor was then built by Ripley, and this again shared the same fate about a hundred years afterwards.

The Monument, the Roman Doric column which commemorates the great fire, was built by Wren between 1671 and 1678. The drawings, which are preserved at All Souls', show that its figure was the result of much study well bestowed. Wren had at first intended that it should have been left hollow from top to bottom, to serve as a vertical telescope-tube, to be used for astronomical purposes, with a large object-glass presented to the Royal Society by Huyghens. Previous to the days of achromatic combinations powerful telescopes required excessive focal length. In this case the height of the Monument proved insufficient, and the adaptation was not made (, Lives, p. 104). Contrasting indeed in height with the Monument, but not less successful in design, is the pedestal of the equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross. Much judgment is required in designing pedestals for statues; they are frequently made too massive. This work was executed, according to Elmes (p. 372), in 1678. A congenial task must have been the erection in 1675 of the Greenwich Observatory.

In 1677 Wren commenced the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. The drawings, and a letter referring to them, are in the collection at All Souls', Oxford. The work was not completely finished till 1692. The result is one of the handsomest buildings in the country, remarkable externally for breadth of effect and correctness of style, while its interior is a model of excellent arrangement. In the letter referred to Wren proposes to give ‘all the mouldings in great,’ observing that ‘architects are scrupulous in small matters … and as great pedants as criticks or heralds.’ In 1678 he made a design complete in every respect, of which the drawings and estimate are preserved at All Souls' College, Oxford, for a monumental structure to be erected at Windsor in memory of Charles I, which, if it had been built, would certainly have proved a noble mausoleum, its external diameter being 68 and its height by scale 145 feet (for a description see Parentalia, p. 331). In 1681 he built the tower over the gateway to Christ Church, Oxford, in a style well harmonising with Wolsey's Tudor Gothic (ib. p. 342). In 1682 Wren produced in Chelsea Hospital a building very practical and well arranged internally, and solid and substantial externally, without aiming at much architectural effect.

The College of Physicians in Warwick Lane, City, now destroyed, was built in 1689. The external architecture, though by no means weak, may be classed as of ordinary merit; but the theatre was extremely good, the seats well arranged for seeing the lecturer, and the acoustics of the building admirable (, p. 451, with engraving). Wren's work at Greenwich Hospital—he contributed it gratuitously (, p. 269)—consists of two noble blocks of building; it is among his best achievements, and in complete harmony with the earlier portion by Inigo Jones. Additions to Kensington Palace were made by Wren for William III. To these may be added a very fine building of its class, the great school-room at Winchester College, built while Wren was employed on Charles II's palace in that city. Wren also built for Charles II the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, begun 1680 and finished 1686. He was long engaged on extensive works at Hampton Court Palace (see, Hampton Court). Several private houses were built by Wren, of which Marlborough House, London, may be cited as an example. They are chiefly noticeable for stately and good arrangements inside, and dignified sobriety outside.

The All Souls' collection contains many drawings for works in connection with the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall and St. James's Palaces, and several plans for large mansions, of which the greater part have not been identified. Besides the enormous amount of labour implied by all that has gone before, Wren's office of surveyor to his majesty's works entailed a great deal of business in references, arbitrations, and other matters, which required personal attention, both in