The Monument to the Great Fire of London

Joshua Marshall (1628–1678) was an English mason and sculptor. As the King's Master Mason at the time of the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

, he was responsible for many of the rebuilding projects. He worked closely with

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

and was the builder of several "Wren churches".

Life

He was born in a house on Fetter Lane in London on 24 June 1628, the eldest son of the sculptor Edward Marshall. He became the Warden of the

Worshipful Company of Masons The Worshipful Company of Masons is one of the ancient Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London, number 30 in the order of precedence of the 111 companies. It was granted Arms in 1472, during the reign of Edward IV of England, Ki ...

in 1666 and Master of the Company in 1670. He was appointed Master Mason to the Crown in place of his father, and in that role worked on several royal palaces.''Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851'', Rupert Gunnis. p.255 Marshall lived in the parish of

St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a Church of England church in Fleet Street in the City of London. Likely dedicated to Bridget of Kildare, Saint Bridget perhaps as early as the 6th century, the building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christo ...

and attended church there. He had premises on Shoe Lane, just off

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

. As Master Mason to the King and as a regular contractor for the works of Wren, he was one of the many masons who worked on

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

although his specific work on the cathedral is not clear. He was the principal builder of

The Monument The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a fluted Doric column in London, England, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating the Great Fire of London, it stands at the junc ...

to the

, completed in 1677, and was paid the huge sum of £11,300 for this task out of the total cost of £13,450 (around £1.9 million in 2021) He died in London on 6 April 1678 and was buried at

St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal na ...

. In his will he left £200 to be given to the widows of masons in London.

Works

*Monument to Sir William Thorold at

St Giles-in-the-Fields St Giles in the Fields is the Anglicanism, Anglican parish church of the St Giles, London, St Giles district of London. The parish stands within the London Borough of Camden and forms part of the Diocese of London. The church, named for Saint ...

(1649) *Monument to John Whatton in

Leicester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Martin, Leicester, commonly known as Leicester Cathedral, is a Church of England cathedral in Leicester, England, and the seat of the Bishop of Leicester. One of the city centre's five surviving medieval ch ...

(1656) *Monument to Elizabeth Sherard at

North Witham North Witham is a small village and nominally a civil parish in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. The village is located along the upper course of the River Witham 1.5 miles downstream (north) of South Witham, and approximately south f ...

(1658) *Monument to John Turner at

Kirkleatham Kirkleatham is an area of Redcar in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north-northwest of Guisborough, and south of Redcar centre. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The area has a ...

(1659) *Monument to

Henry Hammond Henry Hammond (18 August 1605 – 25 April 1660) was an English churchman, church historian and theologian, who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. Early life He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the y ...

Hampton Lovett Hampton Lovett is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is just north of Droitwich. The church of St. Mary and All Saints is noted for its Norman features. English Heritage lists the ch ...

(1660) *Monument to

Richard Brownlow Richard Brownlow (1553–1638) of Belton, South Kesteven, Belton in Lincolnshire, was a lawyer who served as Chief Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas (England), Court of Common Pleas. Origins He was born on 2 April 1553 and was baptised ...

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Belton The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Belton, South Kesteven, Lincolnshire is a functioning parish church and a Grade I listed building. Since the 17th century, the church has served as the estate church for Belton House and it holds a notable coll ...

(c.1660), erected several decades after Brownlow died *Monument to Lady Frances Kniveton at St Giles-in-the-Fields (1663) *Monument to Lady Anne Holbourne at St Giles-in-the-Fields (1663) *Monument to Lord and Lady Noel at

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th to the 17th centuries. A wool trading centre in the Middle Ages, Chipp ...

(1664) *Chimney-pieces for the

Palace of Whitehall The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

(1664 to 1667) *Monument to Bishop John Warner in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

(1666) *Frontage of the

facing onto the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

(1666/7) *North facade and internal fireplaces at

Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , , ) is an area in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian ...

(1666/7) *Repairs to

(1667) *Church of

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Holy Sepulchre London, formerly and in some official uses Saint Sepulchre-without-Newgate, is the largest Anglican parish church in the City of London. It stands on the north side of Holborn Viaduct across a crossroads from the Old Bailey, and i ...

in London (1667–1670) to his own design *Coat-of-Arms at Cleave's Almhouses in

Kingston, Surrey Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

(1670) *

Temple Bar Gate Temple Bar was the principal ceremonial entrance to the City of London from the City of Westminster. In the Middle Ages, London expanded city jurisdiction beyond its walls to gates, called 'bars', which were erected across thoroughfares. To the ...

(1670–72), aided by Thomas Strong (relocated in 20th century) *

St Mary-at-Hill St Mary-at-Hill is a Church of England parish church in the Ward of Billingsgate, City of London. It is situated on Lovat Lane, a cobbled street off Eastcheap. It was founded in the 12th century as "St Mary de Hull" or "St Mary de la Hulle". It ...

Church, with Wren (1670–1676) *

, with Wren (1670–1684) *Monument to Lady Dame Dyonis Williamson at

St Dunstan-in-the-East St Dunstan-in-the-East was a Church of England parish church on St Dunstan's Hill, halfway between London Bridge and the Tower of London in the City of London. The church was largely destroyed in the Second World War and the ruins are now a publi ...

(1671) *New Customs House at Sugar Quay (1671), designed by Wren to replace the Old Customs House destroyed in the

*Construction of

to the Great Fire of London (1671 to 1673), designed by Wren and

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath who was active as a physicist ("natural philosopher"), astronomer, geologist, meteorologist, and architect. He is credited as one of the first scientists to investigate living ...

St Mary Aldermary St Mary Aldermary (or St Mary Elder Mary) is an Anglican church located on Bow Lane at the junction with Watling Street, in the City of London within the United Kingdom. Of medieval origin, rebuilding began in 1510 and was not finished until ...

(Aldermanbury), with Wren (1671) *Ornate pedestal for the equestrian statue of King Charles I at

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

(1675) *Monument to

Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732) of East Carlton Hall, Northamptonshire was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1722 Palmer was born on 12 June 1655, the eldest son of Sir Lewis P ...

and Lady Palmer at

East Carlton East Carlton is a village and civil parish in the county of Northamptonshire, on the southern ridge overlooking the Welland valley to the north and covers on a long strip of land.

(1675) *Monument to William Cleave at Cleave's Almhouses in

(1676) *

St Stephen Coleman Street St. Stephen's Church, Coleman Street, also called "St Stephen's in the Jewry", was a church in the City of London, at the corner of Coleman Street and what is now Gresham Street (and in Coleman Street Ward), first mentioned in the 12th century. ...

, with Wren (1677) (destroyed in Blitz) *

St Peter upon Cornhill St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval, or possibly Roman origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir C ...

, with Wren (1677–1684) *Monument to the

Princes in the Tower The Princes in the Tower refers to the mystery of the fate of the deposed King Edward V of England and his younger brother Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, heirs to the throne of King Edward IV of England. The brothers were the only ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

(1678) *

St Swithin, London Stone St Swithin, London Stone, was an Anglican church in the City of London. It stood on the north side of Cannon Street, between Salters' Hall Court and St Swithin's Lane, which runs north from Cannon Street to King William Street and takes its name f ...

, with Wren (1678) (completed by others, damaged in Blitz, later demolished) *

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is now situated near the 19th-century Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in Aldwych. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th cent ...

, with Wren (1678–1682); spire added by

James Gibbs James Gibbs (23 December 1682 – 5 August 1754) was a Scottish architect. Born in Aberdeen, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England. He is an important figure whose work spanned the transition between English Ba ...

in 1719 (destroyed in Blitz, rebuilt in replica)

Family

He was married to Catherine George daughter of John George. They had five children but only one daughter and two sons survived to adulthood: Anne, John and Edward. Anne married Richard Somers of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

.ODNB 1900: Edward Marshall

Gallery

File:Equestrian statue of Charles I, Charing Cross.jpg, Equestrian statue of Charles I, Charing Cross File:RichardBrownlow Died1638 BeltonChurch.png, Monument to Richard Brownlow (1553–1638), Belton Church,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

File:Swithin londonstone godwin.jpg, St Swithin, London Stone File:Temple Bar ILN 1870.jpg, Temple Bar Gate File:Stephen coleman godwin.jpg, St Stephen Coleman Street File:St Clement Danes, Strand (geograph 5590980).jpg, St Clement Danes File:St-brides-church-london.jpg, Steeple of St Bride's Church from Fleet Street File:Monument top restored.JPG, Detail at the top of

File:Whatton memorial, Leicester Cathedral.jpg, Memorial to John Whatton in

File:Tower of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church.jpg, St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Joshua 1628 births 1678 deaths Great Fire of London Artists from London 17th-century English sculptors