The Wren Building was chartered by King William and Queen Mary in 1693, and built between 1695and 1699. The building was, for many years, the only building housing  William and Mary college, which consisted of  a grammar school, philosophy college, school of Divinity, and contained sleeping arrangements for students and faculty. The Chapel was one room of the school.  The building, officially named The Chapel of the Christopher Wren building, was re-named in 1931, because some folk believe Christopher Wren designed the building.  Sir John Randolph, Lord Botetourt, Bishop James Madison among others, are said to be buried under the chapel. 
   
  I have read that the chapel was built in 1739. Although the building has been burned three times, 1739 doesn’t match any of the years of fire. Maybe someone else can explain that. You can read more on the official site:
    
  http://www.wm.edu/about/wren/wrenchapel/index.html
   
  It should also be pointed out that when Rockefeller created Williamsburg, he bought over 700 historic buildings, and many of which were colonial.  Most of those buildings were torn down to make room for a re-creation of colonial buildings. By the time the town of Williamsburg discovered Rockefeller’s great plan for the town, hundreds of buildings had already been demolished. Of the less than 100 historic buildings that remain, very few are colonial buildings.  I believe they number about 20.  Maybe someone else can supply the exact number.
   
  After suffering three fires, about the only thing left of the 17th century Wren Chapel is the outer walls, if that.  Nevertheless, the historic value of the building is important to Virginia and national history. 
   
  Langdon Hagen-Long

[log in to unmask] wrote:  Numerous people have written about this building, suggesting
that we need to be careful to preserve and respect its
history. To evaluate that claim, it would be useful to know
just what its history *is*.

Absent that information, the best we can do is to make
assumptions. But when we argue from unfounded assumptions, we
enter into a rather detached realm of conjecture. Its an easy
move, and one made by various participants in this
conversation, to begin with assumptions, and then to wind up
treating those assumptions as gospel truth later in the
discussion. 

Does anyone know the history of Wren Chapel? Can anyone
summarize it for the rest of us?

Until we have an answer to this fundamental question, we
simply are in no position to evaluate the suggestion that we
should honor the building's history. 

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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