A Labour of Love

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 77, 13 December 1940, Page 5

A Labour of Love

T. PAUL’S Cathedral is unlike most other great churches; it is not the work of centuries, but of one man-Christopher Wren. The first stone was laid by Wren himself in 1675 when he was 43 years old; the last was laid by his son in 1710 when Sir Christopher was 78. For the next 13 years until his death, old Christopher Wren was carried once a year to St. Paul’s, where he sat, gazed around him and thought of the time when he first set up a stone

to mark the centre of the new church. As the years went on Wren watched over the laying of every stone and cornice. As his glorious dome sprung higher into the orb of Heaven he himself was hoisted aloft in a basket to see that every detail was carried out according to plan. This basket, by the way, can still be seen in the cathedral. To Wren the building of St. Paul’s

was indeed a labour of love. His official wage for the work was £4 a week, and as the work seemed to be getting along slowly Parliament suspended Wren’s wages until the cathedral was finished. This trick was intended to hurry him up. Wren had given a fourth of his miserable wage to the Cathedral Fund at the start of the building, and he continued to work for the next fourteen years for £1 a week! But in spite of this insulting meanness Wren went steadily on with his task.("Ebor," "This and That: St. Paul’s Cathedral," 2YA, Children’s Hour, December 2.)