Fun Feature:  Christopher Wren and the Guildhall at Windsor*

Christopher Wren, born 20 Oct 1632,  is best known as one of England's finest architects.  However, he first distinguished himself in the fields of geometry and applied mathematics while studying at Oxford (1646-1650).  Even Isaac Newton spoke highly of Wren's work as a geometrician, and Wren earned honors as a professor of astronomy in the late 1650's and 1660's.  When the Great Fire of London destroyed St. Paul's Cathedral and nearly all the city churches, the King called on Wren to rebuild them.  In short, this guy was no dummy. 

So, you'd think when the councilmen of Windsor asked Wren to take over construction of their Guildhall (town hall) in 1687, they would listen to his advice.

The Guildhall has meeting rooms upstairs and an open air market below.  The 18 columns surrounding the market were to support the second story, but the councilmen wanted to include 4 interior columns for safety's sake.  Wren insisted that the extra columns were not necessary, and that the space would benefit greatly from the open design.  Yet, in their superior architectural wisdom, the councilmen insisted on the extra columns, and Wren built them.  Sort of.

If you look closely at the 4 interior columns, you'll see they actually fall just an inch short of the ceiling!  They did not support any of the councilmen's weight, nor any weight whatsoever for hundreds of years!  Wren must have smiled to himself every time he walked by that building!

Now the Guildhall is a Grade 1 listed building - officially designated as having exceptional architectural, historical, or cultural significance.  It is a popular venue for weddings, including the 2005 Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles and the union of pop singer Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish that same year.

Guildhall also has some interesting neighbors...  it is located just 100 meters from Castle Hill and the main entrance of Windsor Castle.  And right next to Guildhall stands the Crooked House Tea Room, a building standing almost as long , despite clearly not having received Christopher Wren's advice!

* information compiled from www.windsor-berkshire.co.uk, www.thamesweb.co.uk, and en.wikipedia.org.

This page was last updated on 08/11/07.