A new role for Temple Bar

​A key icon in Sir William Whitfield’s masterplan for Paternoster Square completed in 2004 is Sir Christopher Wren’s Temple Bar, the only remaining example of the ancient gates to the City of London. For nearly 20 years the little building has languished, largely unused as a curious relic of the Square Mile’s history.

But its fate is changing, it is about to be “brought back into civic use” as recent Lord Mayor Sir Charles Bowman put it.
 
Here’s the background: Stuart Murphy was the Chief Architect in the City of London until 1985 when his role was taken over by the newly appointed Director of Planning Peter Rees. As part of the RIBA’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1984, Murphy had been instrumental in setting up the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects as a member of the Livery - the ancient and modern trade associations and guilds that play a key role in the governance of the City.
 
In 1974 the then Lord Mayor  of London Sir Hugh Wontner told Murphy “if you can bring Temple Bar back to the City of London you can have it as the hall for your new company.”
 
At that time, Temple Bar was languishing in Hertfordshire having been removed from its original location in Fleet Street in 1878 to ease the flow of traffic. The Corporation of London, had dismantled the building piece-by-piece and stored its 2,700 stones until in 1880 when the brewer Henry Meux, bought the stones and re-erected the arch at his home in Theobalds Park.
 
A century later it was falling into disrepair and there were moves to try and get it back. In 2001 the Court of Common Council agreed to fund the return of Temple Bar to the Square Mile and its reconstruction in Paternoster Square was completed in November 2004 by the developers Mitsubishi Estates and Stanhope. But by that time Murphy had died and the idea of the Architects’ Company taking over Temple Bar seemed to have been forgotten.
 
In 2015 I became the Master of the Architects’ Company and decided to follow up on Sir Hugh’s promise. So we formed a stand-alone charity – the Temple Bar Trust of which I am Chair - and set about creating a space that would not only act as the City Livery’s smallest Hall but deliver an education programme, lectures and tours as well as house committee meetings and dinners.
 
The City Corporation has given us a CIL Neighbourhood grant to provide an educational programme for the “local community, children and visitors”.
Temple Bar was the traditional western gateway to the City of London; in its new location, it is a metaphorical gateway, where people can learn about the City’s architecture and heritage before embarking on their visits and tours of the Square Mile. The Trust will organise a regular programme of talks about the City aimed at a general audience, young people, and students of architecture. Temple Bar will again become the ‘Gateway to the City’ by introducing visitors to its architectural heritage, the Wren Churches and the Livery Halls, as well as its modern architecture.
 
Students planning a career in architecture will be offered lectures and mentoring by experienced professionals. We’ll teach school children about the environment, climate change and careers in architecture.
 
Visitors to the City will form an even more important part of the Square Mile’s economy in the post-covid environment with more and more people working from home for a big part of the week.
 
The building is currently undergoing refurbishment and will be officially opened by HRH The Duke of Gloucester in September, although events will be taking place over the summer as this year we are celebrating the 350th anniversary of the completion of the building. Next year is Wren 300 marking the anniversary of the death of Christopher Wren - so we foresee a busy time ahead.