Wren Building

The Wren Building is a highly notable building on the campus of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Related Topics:
Building - College of William and Mary - Williamsburg - Virginia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Wren Building is the oldest continually used academic building in the U.S.. According to tradition, the building was designed by famous British architect Christopher Wren. The building is constructed out of red brick and contains classrooms, offices, and a chapel. Posted on the building is the college's honor code, attributed to Thomas Jefferson, who at one point in time, attended college in the Wren Building himself. The Wren Building was the first major building restored by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., after he and the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin began Colonial Williamsburg's restoration in the late 1920s).

Related Topics:
Academic - U.S. - Architect - Christopher Wren - Brick - Honor code - Thomas Jefferson - John D. Rockefeller, Jr. - W.A.R. Goodwin - Colonial Williamsburg

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Wren Building was once the college's only building. Students studied, attended relgious services, and lived in the buidling. Today the building has historical and ceremonial in addition to its academic use. Each year during the opening convocation ceremony, incoming William and Mary freshmen enter the building from the courtyard, pass through the central hall, and exit on the opposite side. As seniors, students pass through the building in the opposite direction on their way to the graduation ceremony. On the top of the building is a weather vane with the number 1693, the year the college was founded.

Related Topics:
Ceremony - Weather vane - 1693

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Popular Virginia Governor Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt, better known as Lord Botetourt, who died in office in 1770, was a member of the College's Board of Visitors, was buried in the Wren Building Chapel. A statue of Lord Botetourt was acquired by William and Mary and moved to the campus from the former Capitol building in 1797. It was a landmark in front of the Wren Building for several centuries. After years of weathering, was eventually moved to a location inside the College's Swem Library in the 20th century. In 1993, as the College celebrated its Tercentenary (300th anniversary), a new statue of Lord Botetourt, created in bronze by W&M alumnus, Gordon Kray, was installed in the College Yard, in the place occupied for so many years by the original. http://www.wm.edu/about/wren/wrenchapel/htmls/botetourthistory.html

Related Topics:
Norborne Berkeley, baron de Botetourt - 1770 - 1797 - 1993 - Gordon Kray

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~