Sir Christopher Wren - Bankside, London, UK
N 51° 30.502 W 000° 05.862
30U E 701400 N 5710353
Christoper Wren's home during the building of St Paul's Cathedral.
Waymark Code: WMD2CP
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/09/2011
Views: 16
Just to the west of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre is a terrace of houses of which 49 Bankside is one. It is a narrow house built on four levels. Between the door and window, on the ground floor, is a stone plaque that reads:
"Here lived Sir Christopher Wren during the building of St Paul's Cathedral. Here also in 1502 Catherine Infanta of Castille and Aragon, afterwards first Queen of Henry VIII, took shelter on her first landing in London".
The house is on a private cobbled street so cannot be viewed close up. The co-ordinates are for a point opposite the house on the riverside path. If you turn around you can see the dome of St Paul's on the other side of the river.
The building is Grade II listed and the National Heritage list, for the property, makes interesting reading. It says:
"House. Late C17 or early C18 with earlier C19 alterations. Stucco front with high tiled roof with dormer behind parapet. 3 storeys and attic, 2 bays. Door to right with decorative square-headed light, moulded stucco architrave, and cornice on consoles with male and female coats of arms and crown above. Sash windows with glazing bars in moulded stucco architraves to all floors, those at ground and 1st floors with console bracketed cornices, and ground window with ornate wrought-iron grille. Plaque: "Here lived Sir Christopher Wren during the building of St Paul's Cathedral. Here also in 1502 Catherine Infanta of Castille and Aragon, afterwards first Queen of Henry VIII, took shelter on her first landing in London". INTERIOR: not inspected. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: short wrought-iron railing to right of door. There is no historical evidence to support the legend on the plaque, though a previous building on the site may have been referred to."
So was it this building the Christopher Wren lived in or a predecessor?
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