The sheer magnificence of St. Paulís is beyond question, F_M. Actually, you may know that the Norman St. Paulís ñ the predecessor of Wrenís cathedral
- that was burnt down in 1666 was by all accounts a phenomenal structure. Worth a search if youíre interested.
With any of Wrenís churches thereís always the difficulty of knowing the extent to which eh followed the previous design or the whims of his
patrons ñitís well known that Charles II tried to influence the design of St. Paulís and that Wren went out of his way to keep whole sections of the
building secret (literally under wraps).
That his son was a freemason seems almost indisputable but ñwhile freemasons have long tended to claim Wren as their own, there does seem to be room
for disagreement on the issue. If anyone was likely to meet freemasons, it would have been Wren; but for everyone convinced lodge historian youíll
find a sceptic dismissing it as a fable. And, a great many masons do hedge a little "probably" etc.
Incidentally, Shefield University has a thriving centre for all sorts of discussion of this issue ñitís a bit ìpick and mixî; but you might be
interested and they do entertain correspondence.
www.macartneylodge.co.uk...

