Is St. Paul’s Cathedral the “Finest Building in the World”?

Abstract

ABSTRACT: For the October 1900 issue of The Strand Magazine , Frederick Dolman asked nine leading architects of the day “Which is the Finest Building in the World?” Among the eight responses he received, three architects selected works by Sir Christopher Wren, with St. Paul’s Cathedral heading the list. Dolman framed his question as a search for a “present-day ideal” in architecture, and the architects’ answers reveal how in the late nineteenth century Wren’s works, and St. Paul’s in particular, served as architectural models in the creation of a “Wrenaissance.” At the same time as this renewal of interest in Wren’s work occurred the demolition of over a dozen of Wren’s city churches, raising the question of whether Wren’s works were understood as having value in their own right. Given The Strand was a magazine aimed at the general public, Dolman’s article points to a broader interest in Wren and his works beyond the architectural profession. This public interest in Wren is also evident in several late Victorian novels— Mrs. J. H. Riddell’s Mitre Court: A Tale of the Great City (1883), Sir Walter Bessant’s The Bell of St. Paul’s (1889), and Emma Marshall’s Under the Dome of St. Paul’s: A Story of Sir Christopher Wren’s Days (1898)—where Wren and his works are vividly portrayed. In addition to the fictional portrayals of Wren and architects’ commentaries on his works was the use of St. Paul’s Cathedral as a backdrop to some of the most prominent moments in London history, including funerals of dignitaries, and The Illustrated London News prominently displayed St. Paul’s Cathedral as a symbol of London on its masthead. This curious combination of popular and professional portrayals of Sir Christopher Wren and St. Paul’s Cathedral solidified their prominence in the Victorian imagination as symbolic of both the city of London and English nationalism.