Sr. Cristopher Wren's Plan for Rebuilding the City after the dreadfull Conflagration in 1666

This is an eighteenth-century copy of Sir Christopher Wren's plan for rebuilding London after the great fire destroyed seven-eighths of the city. This reduced plan seems to have been published a number of times. This latest edition has a textual explanation beneath the map. When Wren made his plan for rebuilding he was an Oxford astronomer with comparatively little architectural experience, but he was among the first to present a reconstruction plan after the catastrophe. On this plan the narrow streets which had helped spread the fire are replaced by monumental avenues. The influence of the classical buildings and formal street plans which Wren had studied in Paris are a clear influence. Wren also proposed constructing a Thameside quay from Bridle to the Tower, replacing the ramshackle wooden wharfside buildings with warehouses. A vignette of 'Thamesis' (a putative river god), a female personification of the city, and London burning in the background have been added to the border. Wren's plan was never used. Perhaps due to his eagerness to produce a plan quickly, he was inaccurate in making his ground plan and did not consider contours adequately. Neither king nor parliament were ever to take it seriously, despite title's the assertion that it was 'unhappily defeated by faction.'

Wren, Christopher

1666

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