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Wren Building

Wren Building, College of William and Mary
The east front of the Wren Building
Wren Building is located in Virginia
Wren Building
Wren Building is located in the United States
Wren Building
LocationWilliamsburg, Virginia
Coordinates37°16′15″N 76°42′33″W / 37.27083°N 76.70917°W / 37.27083; -76.70917
Built1695-1699
NRHP reference No.66000929[1][2]
VLR No.137-0013
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960[3]
Designated VLRSeptember 9, 1969[1]
Part of a series on the
Campus of the
College of William & Mary
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The Wren Building (original build, 1695-1699[4][5][1]) is the oldest building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia,[not verified in body] which is the "nation’s second oldest seat of higher learning" in the United States.[1] Situated in Old College Yard[4]: p.375 [1]—of William & Mary's "Ancient Campus", near the more contemporary Merchants Square east of campus—the frequently visited Wren Building anchors that Campus,[6][better source needed] with its forecourt defined by two further old structures, Brafferton (built in 1723 as an Indian school) and the President's House (completed in 1733).[1] It's architecture is considered Georgian,[dubious – discuss][citation needed] and as a building in use by The College, and with a cornerstone laid in 1695,[5] it is the oldest of academic buildings still standing and in use in the United States,[7][8][9][better source needed] and among the oldest buildings in Virginia.[not verified in body] The Wren Building was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 9, 1960,[3] and has appeared in the Virginia Landmarks Register since September 9, 1969.[1]

The cornerstone of the first building on this site was laid on August 8, 1695,[5][1][4] and construction was completed four years later.[1][4] While many details regarding the matter are unknown, an undated modern Wren House informational placard states that the "building was made by the labor of enslaved individuals... possibl[y] including... enslaved children..." and that the same labor was used "to run the College, most likely assisting with cleaning, cooking, gardening, tending livestock, etc."[10][better source needed]

The college named the building in honor of the English architect Sir Christopher Wren,[citation needed] after Hugh Jones—a Reverend and William and Mary mathematics professor[citation needed]—wrote in his Present State of Virginia (1724) that it was “first modelled by Sir Christopher Wren, adapted to the nature of the country by the gentlemen there”;[1] however, it is unknown how Jones came to this conclusion, since there are no actual documents tying Wren to the building's design, and he never even visited North America.[11][page needed]

After several fires and rebuildings,[1] the Wren Building was the first major building restored or reconstructed by John D. Rockefeller Jr., after he and the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin began Colonial Williamsburg's restoration in the late 1920s.[not verified in body] The building's was restored in the 20th century by Boston architects Perry Shaw & Hepburn.[not verified in body] Perry Shaw & Hepburn's restoration reflects the building's historic appearance from its reconstruction in 1716 after a 1705 fire to 1859, when it burned again.[not verified in body]

The building is constructed as it currently stands out of red brick, in the style of Flemish and English Bond [clarification needed] (as was typical for official buildings in 17th- and 18th-century Williamsburg).[citation needed] Its rebuilding, despite modifications, generally were "within the original walls", as "walls surviv[ing]... were incorporated in the rebuildings".[1] It has contained classrooms, offices, a refectory known as the Great Hall, and a kitchen,[when?][citation needed] and a chapel, which was added as a south wing in 1732.[citation needed] The crypt beneath the chapel is the resting place of several notable Virginians, including royal governor the 4th Baron Botetourt, Speaker of the House of Burgesses Sir John Randolph, and his son Peyton Randolph, Founding Father and first President of the Continental Congress.[citation needed]

On the top of the building is a weather vane with the number 1693, the year the College was founded.[not verified in body] In the early 1770s, plans were drawn up to complete the building as a quadrangle; alumnus Thomas Jefferson (class of 1762) drew up a floorplan which was submitted to Governor Dunmore, and foundations were laid in 1774.[not verified in body] The looming American Revolutionary War halted further construction, and the fourth wing was never completed.[not verified in body] The foundations, however, still exist and were uncovered during excavations in 2014.[12][better source needed]

The first and second floors of the building are still open for public viewing; the Spotswood Society—named after Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood—offers guided tours of the building when William and Mary classes are in-session.[13] The Spotswood Society also offers a virtual tour.[14][full citation needed]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l DHR Staff (January 10, 2024). "137-0013: Wren Building (Old College Yard, College of William and Mary)". DHR.Virginia.gov. Richmond, VA: Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR). Retrieved December 12, 2024. VLR Listing Date 09/09/1969 / NRHP Listing Date 10/15/1966 / NHL Listing Date 10/09/1960 / NRHP Reference Number 66000929.
  2. ^ For original submission documents, see the following search portal, and enter the 66000929 reference number: NPS Staff (December 14, 2024). "Wren Building, College of William and Mary" (NHRP entry). NPS.gov/NRHP. Washington, DC: National Park Service (NPS), National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
  3. ^ a b NPS-NHL Program Staff (June 27, 2008). "Wren Building, College of William and Mary". TPS.CR.NPS.gov/NHL. Washington, DC: National Park Service (NPS), National Historic Landmarks (NHL) Program. Archived from the original (NHL Program listing) on February 13, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d Wilson, Richard Guy; Butler, Sara A.; Chappell, Edward; Driggs, Sarah Shields; Larsen, Hal; McClane, Debra A.; Potterfield, Jr., Thomas Tyler; Rasmussen, William M. S.; Richardson, Selden; Slipek, Jr., Edwin; Wagner, Marc C.; Wojtowicz, Robert, ed. (2002). "Hampton Roads (HR) [HR31—College of William and Mary, Old College Yard; HR31.1 Wren Building]". Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont. Buildings of the United States (1st ed.). Oxford, England: Society of Architectural Historians–Oxford University Press. p. v., 374-377, esp. 375f. ISBN 0195152069. Retrieved December 14, 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) Note, from Butler forward, the names appearing are contributors (frontmatter. v.), a list which ends "and Others".
  5. ^ a b c Seurattan, Suzanne (January 6, 2016). "The Wren: You Know the Building; What About Its History?". Libraries.WM.edu. Williamsburg, VA: William & Mary Libraries. Retrieved December 12, 2024. The cornerstone of the College was laid on Aug. 8, 1695. No images of the cornerstone are known to exist.[better source needed]
  6. ^ Anthony, Matt (February 15, 2018). "College of William and Mary". BirdingVirginia.org. Amelia Court House, VA: Birding Virginia. Retrieved December 12, 2024. Ancient Campus, on the eastern side near Merchant's Square, is the part most frequently visited by tourists due to the presence of the historic Wren Building.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference CrimsonStaffMassHallWrenBldg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference WMeduWren2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference ColWnsburgWren2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ William and Mary Staff [presumed]. "[1] Black History" (transcript of a Wren House display placard, author and date unknown, presenting unsourced introductory content regarding the use of slaves in the early period of the Wren and William and Mary operations). spotswoodsociety.wixsite.com. Retrieved December 14, 2024. It is important to note that this building was made by the labor of enslaved individuals. There was no 'trained' brick layer. And looking at the size of the tools used, it's possible that these were enslaved children. The history of this college is inextricably linked with the subject of slavery. Enslaved labor was used to construct the buildings of the college and then they worked to run the College, most likely assisting with cleaning, cooking, gardening, tending livestock, etc. Most likely, they slept where they worked, which meant the cellar of the Wren Building or the kitchen. There were possibly even enslaved quarters somewhere outside the building – we know that this was an idea that was brought up but we don't know if it was ever implemented. Note, this placard, while containing valuable information, appears without formal bibliographic connection to either William and Mary, or another authoritative source; hence, it is presented in the interim without author or date, or full confidence in provenance.
  11. ^ Kornwolf, James D. (1989). "So Good a Design": The Colonial Campus of the College of William and Mary, Its History, Background, and Legacy. Williamsburg, VA: College of William and Mary, Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle Museum of Art.[full citation needed] Note, for a review substantiating the existence of this book volume (which appears without ISBN, and without entry at Google Books), see Davis, Howard (1990). "Review: [Untitled]" (Reviewed Works: "So Good a Design": The Colonial Campus of the College of William and Mary, Its History, Background, and Legacy [by] James D. Kornwolf [and] Collegiate Gothic: The Architecture of Rhodes College [by] William Morgan). Winterthur Portfolio. 25 (4, Winter). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press: 289–292. doi:10.1086/496503. JSTOR 1181287. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  12. ^ Erickson, Mark St. John (July 24, 2014). "Wren Building dig reveals foundation of long-lost college structure". Daily Press. Retrieved June 15, 2021. Note, this source makes no mention of the foundations corresponding to a "fourth wing" of the Wren Building.
  13. ^ "Historic Campus". College of William and Mary.
  14. ^ virtual tour[full citation needed]
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