Saint Peter Cornhill, London

case study 9 Saint Peter Cornhill, London

1681 (rebuilt after the Great Fire of London) Parish church Building extant, now a training centre Architect: Christopher Wren (1632–1723), probably assisted by Robert Hooke (1635–1703)

Son of the High Church vicar of Knoyle, later bishop of Ely, Wren enrolled at Wadham College, Oxford, as a Gentleman Commoner c. 1649. Astronomy was his principal activity. In 1661 he returned to Oxford as Savilian Professor of Astronomy, and in this period his architectural interests became clear. Immediately following the Great Fire of London in 1666, he was appointed with Roger Pratt and Hugh May as a commissioner to survey the destruction. His new urbanistic plan for London was rejected, but he was appointed surveyor general for the rebuilding of fifty city churches. These churches are renowned for their original architectural vocabulary, covering renaissance classicism, ba- roque, and even Gothic. Wren and his office also succeeded in creating a full classical equivalent of the English medieval church spire. In 1711 Wren was appointed as one of the commissioners of the Church Act.1

Hooke was born at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, son of a parish priest. In 1653 he went to Christ Church, Oxford, where he became acquainted with Christopher Wren. In 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, he started his career as an architect. He proposed a plan for the rebuilding of the City to the Common Council and was appointed one of the three surveyors for rebuilding the City together with Peter Mills and Edward Jerman. In this capacity he was closely associated with Wren with whom he collaborated on the rebuilding of the city churches.2

1 Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995), 1083–97. 2 Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary, 507.

Historical note

St Peter Cornhill dates from 1681. Designed by Christopher Wren in the cam- paign for rebuilding churches demolished by the Great Fire, it stands on the foundations of the earlier church.3 Surrounded by city buildings, the visible frontages are characterized by a plain, classical style. The facade of the choir consists out of five roundheaded window openings separated by Ionic pilasters. The three central windows are decorated with cherub-head keystones. Above is a triangular pediment containing a roundheaded window flanked by oculi. The church is entered through a porch with Ionic columns. The tower is topped by a dome and lantern with a spire. The spire is crowned with a ball decorated with a key referring to St Peter. The interior of the church is formed by a nave and aisles separated by five arches on piers flanked with Corinthian pilasters. The nave is barrel-vaulted. The church was opened on November 27, 1681 by the bishop of London, Henry Compton. The opening sermon was preached by the church’s priest William Beveridge.

In 1713 a sermon was preached by the rector of St Peter’s, John Waugh, at the reopening of the church after repair.

Sermon 1

Sermon title: A sermon concerning the excellency and usefulness of the common prayer. / Preached by William Beveridge, D.D. Rector of St. Peter’s Cornhil, London, at the opening of the said parish-church, the 27th of November, 1681.

Imprint: Printed for D. Manship at the Ship near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill, 1700, thirteenth edition.

Author: William Beveridge (1637–1708)

3 Henry A. Harben, A Dictionary of London (London: H. Jenkins Ltd, 1918). British History Online, accessed March 19, 2016, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of- london. John Noorthouck, A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark (London: R Baldwin, 1773). British History Online, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www .british-history.ac.uk/no-series/new-history-london. Walter Thornbury, Old and New London (London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878), vol. 2. British History Online, accessed March 18, 2016, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol2.