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Wren’s Plan for Rebuilding London

Price range: £29.95 through £39.95

Sir Christopher Wren’s rebuilding plan of 1666 — engraved by Paul Fourdrinier, 1744

This historic London map shows the city Wren proposed after the Great Fire. Broad straight streets, regular blocks and open piazzas replace the tangled medieval street pattern, with a continuous quay along the Thames.

The Royal Exchange forms a focus for radiating streets, while the cathedral precinct anchors the western part of the scheme. A personification of the Thames appears at the lower left, and an Explanation of the Plan runs beneath the map.

Reproduced as a fine art print, this is a plan for a London that was never built in this form.

Sizes: 17" × 23" or 22" × 30". Supplied unframed.

* price shown is for print only

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Wren’s proposal for rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666 replaced the old street pattern with a planned arrangement of broad avenues, piazzas and regular building blocks. This 1744 engraving by Paul Fourdrinier records that earlier scheme; it does not show London as it stood in 1744.

Map Details

  • Original title: A Plan of the City of London, after the great Fire in the Year of Our Lord 1666, with the Modell of the New City
  • Designer: Sir Christopher Wren
  • Engraver: Paul Fourdrinier
  • Plan proposed: 1666
  • Engraved edition: 1744, London
  • Area shown: The City of London north of the Thames, from the western approaches towards the Tower
  • Format: Rebuilding proposal with an explanatory text and decorative figures
  • Print sizes: 17" × 23" and 22" × 30"

A different pattern of streets

The regular blocks and long lines of sight are the most striking features of the plan. Streets spread from the Royal Exchange, while piazzas and church sites interrupt the grid. The cathedral precinct and the Exchange give the scheme distinct centres rather than allowing development to follow the former lanes.

The waterfront

A broad quay follows the north bank of the Thames. The plan’s explanation connects this riverside space with warehouses and the movement of goods. It shows that Wren’s scheme addressed trade and access to the river as well as the appearance of the rebuilt city.

Reading the engraving

The figure at the lower left personifies the Thames, while the upper-left emblem depicts a phoenix associated with renewal after the fire. English and Latin titles, together with the Explanation of the Plan, give the sheet the character of a formal architectural proposal. The lettering preserves the spelling and presentation of the engraved edition.

A proposal, not the rebuilt city

Wren’s comprehensive street plan was not carried out. Its wide avenues and ordered spaces therefore represent an alternative future for London, rather than a survey of what was eventually built. Distinguishing the 1666 design from the 1744 engraving is essential to understanding this print.

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