Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sports and theatres were high on Charles's agenda. He had a house built in
New-
market
(p. 505) so he could live there during the racing season, as did his most
famous mistress, the actress Nell Gwynne. He was also patron of two theatre com-
panies, and Restoration comedy became known for its bawdy plots and use of satire,
poking fun at political figures and topical events. William Wycherley's 1675 play
The
Country Wife
is often performed today.
This was also a period of scientific expansion. Mathematician Isaac Newton
studied the composition of light, invented a reflecting telescope, and, most famous
of all, set out his theory of gravity and the laws of motion in 1687—2 years after
Charles II's death.
Architect Christopher Wren was also a mathematician, and in 1661 was made
Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University. His knowledge of physics and engineer-
ing led to his being commissioned to design the
Sheldonian Theatre
in Oxford
(p. 217) in 1664. But it was the Great Fire of London, in 1666, that really gave him
the opportunity to shine.
London at the time was still a medieval city of half-timbered buildings, which had
grown from the walled Roman city. Shops and houses were built very close together
in a maze of alleys and narrow streets. The city was filthy, with open sewers and little
access to clean water, and plague was a recurring problem. The Great Plague of 1665
was spread by rats' fleas, although nobody knew that at the time. By July, during a hot
summer, more than 1,000 Londoners were dying every week. Theatres, markets, and
taverns were closed by order of the Privy Council, and the king and his entourage
moved to
Salisbury
(p. 325).
Possibly the most famous plague village in England is Eyam, in Derbyshire
(p. 534), where about 260 of 350 villagers died. The clergyman had persuaded
them to remain in quarantine, helping to stop the spread of the disease. Now the
victims are remembered each year with a church service on Plague Sunday, the
last Sunday in August.
Back in London, in 1666 the plague continued to pick off occasional victims,
but in September a fire started at the king's baker's shop in Pudding Lane, in the
old city. The baker's ovens had not been put out properly overnight, sparks
escaped, and fire spread through the wooden buildings. It was so intense that the
lead roof of the old St. Paul's Cathedral melted before the building burned down
along with 84 other churches.
The fire is commemorated by the
Monument
(p. 110), a 61.5-m (202-ft.) tower
topped by an urn of golden flames. It was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and if
you climb the 311 spiral steps you can see many of the other buildings Wren built
after the fire, when modern London was created. Wren's greatest triumph was the
new
St. Paul's Cathedral
(p. 111). But Wren also designed 51 other new churches,
as well as the
Royal Observatory
at Greenwich (p. 120), through which the Prime
Meridian line runs. This is the internationally agreed official starting point for each
day, year, and millennium, and the longitude of every place on earth is measured from
here, as explained in the Dava Sobel novel
Longitude
(Walker & Co.). Wren also
designed the Royal Hospital for retired soldiers, where the RHS Chelsea Flower
Show takes place each May, and
Trinity College Library
in Cambridge (p. 498).
Charles II was succeeded by his brother James II in 1685, an unpopular heir
because he was openly Catholic (Charles was a secret Catholic). He appointed
Catholics to key posts and dismissed Parliament so he could rule without interfer-
ence. In 1688 his wife gave birth to a son, which was the last straw for England's
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