The Sir Christopher Wren Building at the College of William and Mary

I have been thinking about doing a series of posts where I talk about different places and aspects of the College of William and Mary, so I have decided that today is a good day to start talking about the college that I am attending.  I also feel that today is a pretty-picture sort of day, so I think I will have a sort of visual tour here in this post.

I have decided to start with the historic end of campus, at the Sir Christopher Wren Building and the other buildings in the College Yard.  The Wren Building sits in the historic college yard, flanked by two other buildings: the Brafferton, and the President's House.  The Brafferton was built in 1723 with funds endowed from the estate of Sir Robert Boyle (and here is another link about him) to house the College's Indian School, where Native American boys were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Today, the offices of the president and the provost are in this building.   I have placed a photo of this building on the right.

The President's House was built in 1732, and every president of the College has used the residence.  In 1781, British troops occupied the area, and General Cornwallis used it as his headquarters.  It was damaged by a fire after French officers occupied it after the siege of Yorktown, so King Louis XVI of France provided funds for repairs.   I have put a photo of the President's House on the left, which I took from the direction that most people first see it when they walk over from Colonial Williamsburg.  I love that tree in the foreground with the bench in front of it.  The limbs curve and arch in such a graceful way!

Both of these buildings, and the Wren Building were restored to how they looked in the 18th century as part of the restoration of the colonial parts of Williamsburg by Rockefeller in the late 1920's.

Here is a photograph of the Wren Building.  The cannon that you can see in the photograph of the front of the Wren Building was captured from the British in the Revolutionary War.  The statue in the yard is of Lord Botetourt, who was a royal governor of the Virginia colony, and a friend to the College.  During the celebration for the President Sullivan last week (the president of the College, who is retiring from the presidency this summer), some creative person tied a bunch of balloons to his outstretched hand and scroll, so he looked like a balloon vendor! 

The Sir Christopher Wren Building is the oldest college building in the United States.  It is also the oldest of the restored public buildings in Williamsburg!  Construction on it started in 1695, before the city was even founded.  It is named for the famous British architect Sir Christopher Wren, to whom the design of the building is attributed.  The building has survived three major fires, and two wars (the Revolutionary War and the Civil War).  Classes are still held in the building, and there are also faculty offices in it. 

In my next installment about the College of William and Mary, I'll post some photographs of the inside of the Wren Building.

Comments

[Sarah D. Barlow]

Hey square root! It's me, the other square root, Sarah! It has been quite some time. I am so proud of you! Your journal entries are wonderful.

[Sarah K]

Hey Sarah!!

It is wonderful to hear from you! :) :) I am so glad that you like my journal!

For other readers, Sarah and I were the best of friends in high school. There was a group of four of us who were inseparable. We were Sarah^2 (Sarah squared). We have not seen each other in years, so this is a really cool moment. It is definitely time for a reunion! It has been entirely too long since we last had the chance to hang out together.

- Sarah K

[Debbie Krawczyk]

Hi Sarah,
I came across your site while searching for info for one of my fifth grade students doing a report on the Wren Building. Your site was very helpful to him. My daughter is currently a sophmore at W&M. Enjoy your travels.
Debbie

[Sarah K]

Hi Debbie,

I am glad that my posts about William and Mary's Wren Building have turned out to be helpful and informative for you. I hope that your daughter has a great time at W&M and enjoys her studies!

- Sarah K