The Christopher Wren Building

King William and Queen Mary granted a charter on February the eight, 1693, establishing the College of William and Mary in Virginia to provide a seminary for ministers of the gospel, educate youth in good letters and manners, and propagate the Christian faith among the western Indians. The Lord Bishop of London became the first Chancellor, and the Reverend Doctor James Blair, Commissary of the Bishop of London, was the first President, serving until his death in 1743. The building, first modeled by Sir Christopher Wren and adapted to the country by local gentlemen, was erected in 1695. After the seat of government moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg in 1699, the General Assembly met in its great hall until the Capitol was completed in 1704, and again from 1747 to 1752 after the Capitol burned; convocations of the clergy were also held there. Burned in 1705, it was partially redesigned and rebuilt before 1716 under Governor Alexander Spotswood, preserving the original walls, and the chapel wing was added in 1732. The remains of Lord Botetourt, Sir John Randolph, Peyton Randolph, John Randolph, Bishop James Madison, and other honored dead are interred there. George Washington received his Surveyor’s Commission there in 1749, Benjamin Franklin received the honorary degree of Master of Arts there in 1756, and Chevalier de Chatellux and Thomas Jefferson received the degree of Doctor of Civil Law there in 1782. During the Yorktown Campaign it served as a hospital for sick and wounded French and American soldiers, and in the War of 1812 it served as barracks for the militia. Burned again in 1859, it was rebuilt on the old walls and used until May 1861; during the War between the States it was occupied first by Confederate forces and later by the Federal Army, and in 1862 it burned for a third time. With college revenues exhausted by war, rebuilding was not completed until 1868. From 1880 to 1888 the College Bell, rung by Colonel Benjamin S. Ewell, then President, sounded through largely deserted halls while a few students kept the Royal Charter alive. Later, in the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., fulfilling the cherished dream of the Reverend Doctor William A.R. Goodwin, included the restoration of the building to its known 1732 form and design.

Williamsburg, Virginia · United States