The Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford, by Sir Christopher Wren

The Tom Tower

Sir Christopher Wren

1682

Christ Church, Oxford

Eastlake, facing p. 30

[See commentary below]

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Commentary by Charles L. Eastlake

The celebrated Tom Tower . . . from the prominent position which it occupies, presents one of the most remarkable features in the university. It rises from the great entrance, commonly called the Tom Gate, which formed part of Wolsev's splendid scheme. It is octagonal in form, and intro- duced to the square substructure by that species of huge chamfer or splay which may be observed in other designs by this master, and an intervening panelled storey, on one face of which the clock is placed. On this the upper portion of the tower is raised, its eight sides being pierced to full two-thirds of its height by pointed windows, canopied by an ogival hood-moulding. These windows are divided into two lights, the space above the springing being filled in with tracery, the style of which is copied from late Perpendicular work. Between the windows, and at each angle of the octagon, buttresses occur, terminating below the panelled storey in a corbel and upwards in a crocketted pinnacle. The whole is surmounted by a dome-shaped roof similar in character to those which crown the turrets on either side of the entrance. [30]

References

Eastlake, Charles L. A History of the Gothic Revival. London: Longmans, Green; N.Y. Scribner, Welford, 1872. [Copy in Brown University's Rockefeller Library]

Last modified 7 February 2008