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68-756: 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 junction of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill, 202 feet (61.6 m) in height and 202 feet west of the spot in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire started on 2 September 1666. Constructed between 1671 and 1677, it

136-477: A column of either brass or stone should be set up on Fish Street Hill, on or near the site of Farynor's bakery, where the fire began. Christopher Wren , as surveyor-general of the King's Works, was asked to submit a design. Robert Hooke, then working as an architect for Wren, developed the design. It is impossible to know the extent of the collaboration between Hooke and Wren, but Hooke's drawings of possible designs for

204-521: A flag and dropping leaflets from the monument. One of these was Gertrude Metcalfe-Shaw . The area around the base of the column, Monument Street, was pedestrianised in 2006 in a £790,000 street improvement scheme. The Monument closed in July 2007 for an 18-month, £4.5 million refurbishment project and re-opened in February 2009. Between 1 and 2 October 2011, a Live Music Sculpture created especially for

272-459: A hatch in the floor of the present-day ticket booth). Vibrations from heavy traffic on Fish Street Hill rendered the experimental conditions unsuitable. At the top of the monument, a hinged lid in the urn covers the opening to the shaft. The steps in the shaft of the tower are all 6 inches (150 mm) high, allowing them to be used for barometric pressure studies. In a study published in 2020, researchers from Queen Mary University of London used

340-625: A new exemplification of the coat of arms by the College of Arms. The Natural Stone Craft Awards were presented by HRH The Duke of Gloucester (a Liveryman of the Company) for the first time in 1986. In 1990, The Company formed an Association with the Corps of Royal Engineers . 2004 saw the re-siting and restoration of Temple Bar to Paternoster Square, having been originally built by Master Masons’ Edward and Joshua Marshall in 1673. The Masons’ Company

408-430: A semi-circle, and are usually terminated at the top and bottom by a semi-circular scoop, followed by a small distance where the column has its full circular profile, or indeed swells. These orders always have a base to the columns, often an elaborate one. While Greek temples employed columns for load-bearing purposes, Roman architects often used columns more as decorative elements. They tend to use fluting less often than

476-524: A similar principle, before 20 flutes became the convention. Fluting is also found in other parts of the classical Persian column. The bases are often fluted, and the "bell" part of the capital has stylized plant ornament that comes close to fluting. Above this there is usually a tall section with four flat fluted volutes . Fluting was used in both Greek and Roman architecture , especially for temples, but then became rare in Byzantine architecture , where

544-631: A stark Doric look became fashionable in Germany (where it was partly a gesture against over-elegant French styles), Britain and the United States. Fluting became more common, even usual for grand buildings, even in the Ionic and Corinthian orders. A gentler version of the style is exemplified throughout many government buildings and monuments in the United States , though some buildings like

612-762: Is currently limited to 250 Liverymen and 50 Freemen. Yeoman Masons, a category of membership that was re-constituted in 2008, has no limit, but currently stands at over 60 members. The two key annual events are the Master’s Banquet, often at Mansion House in March and the Livery Dinner with the Associated Companies in November. The Company’s wide social programme involves talks and visits to places of historical and architectural interest throughout

680-584: Is not used in Doric order columns. Cabled fluting may have been used to prevent wear and damage to the sharp edges of the flutes along the bottom part of the column. Spiral fluting is a rather rare style in Roman architecture , and even rarer in the later classical tradition. However, it was in fashion in the Eastern Roman Empire between about 100 and 250 AD. What is in effect horizontal "fluting"

748-511: Is not yet quenched" ) were added to the end of the inscription on the orders of the Court of Aldermen in 1681 during the foment of the Popish Plot . Text on the east side originally falsely blamed Roman Catholics for the fire ("burning of this protestant city, begun and carried on by the treachery and malice of the popish faction"), which prompted Alexander Pope (himself a Catholic) to say of

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816-554: Is possible that in some buildings fluting in stucco, "so much used and so rarely preserved" according to J. B. Ward-Perkins , was applied to stone columns. Roman Doric columns "nearly always" have a base, although Vitruvius does not insist on one. Fluted Corinthian columns perhaps became associated with imperial grandeur. Even rather small provincial caesariums, or temples of the Imperial cult have them on their porches, as do imperial triumphal arches . Examples of temples include

884-466: Is sometimes applied, in particular to parts of the bases of columns. It tends to be called "banding". Fluted columns in the Doric order of classical architecture have 20 flutes. Ionic , Corinthian , and Composite columns traditionally have 24. Fluting is never used on Tuscan order columns. Flat-faced pilasters generally have between five and seven flutes. Fluting is always applied exclusively to

952-501: Is sometimes found in the same way, as inside Cave 26 at Ajanta, from the late 5th or early 6th century. Similar visual effects are more often achieved by giving column shafts several flat faces. The Heliodorus pillar of about 113 BC has three different zones with 8, 16 and 32 flat faces (lowest first), with a round zone above that. Fluting was also used in capitals, in contrast to the Greco-Roman tradition. The "bell" capitals of

1020-570: Is two of the large columns ("piers") in the nave of Durham Cathedral (c. 1120s). These have a distinctive format of alternating convex and concave flutes. These were carved on the stones before the pier was erected. The entrance of the Castel del Monte, Apulia , Italy, an imperial castle from the 1240s, has very thin fluted pilasters under a pediment , in an early and rather shaky attempt to revive classical forms. The revival of classical architectural elements, including Classical order columns,

1088-542: The Achaemenid Empire in ancient Persia, over roughly the same period that Doric temples developed in Greece. The ruins of Persepolis , Iran, where examples can be most clearly be seen, are probably mostly from the 6th century BC. In grand settings the columns are usually fluted, with tall capitals featuring two highly decorated animals, and column bases of various types. The flutes are shallow, with arrises, like

1156-780: The Ashoka columns are fluted, as are the flatter capitals in Cave 26 of the Ajanta Caves . In the Ashoka columns the flutes are stylized leaves, clinging to the bell, with round bottoms. Fluted columns, some with entasis , were one of the options available to Chinese architects and cave-carvers (survivals are mostly in Buddhist rock-carved shrines) in the 3rd to 6th centuries AD. Some engaged columns were also topped by quasi-capital with volutes, but usually curling up, rather than down as in

1224-524: The City of Westminster and seven miles from each. It was also an important social organisation in the lives of its members. Like most Livery Companies, it maintains its social function, but the Company’s economic and administrative role has changed over time and it no longer oversees the craft in this traditional way, although it remains actively involved in supporting those training in stonemasonry and in promoting

1292-669: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1922), continued to use Greek Doric with no bases to the columns. In the 20th century New Classical architecture made considerable use of fluting. Fluting, very often convex, is also found in various media in the decorative arts , including metalware, wooden furniture, glass and pottery. It was common in English cut glass of the Georgian period. In metal plate armour , fluting

1360-601: The London Guildhall , and St Paul’s Cathedral . Although a ‘mistery’ (i.e. craft) of masons may have existed beforehand, the elections to the Common Council in 1376 provide the first secure evidence for the existence of an organised guild of masons in London, and by 1389, if not earlier, there was a fraternity of masons in London too, so the roots of the company were embedded at that time and developed during

1428-882: The Maison carrée , the Roman Temple of Évora , and Temple of Augustus, Barcelona in provincial centres, as well as the much larger temples in Rome, such as the Temple of Vespasian and Titus . However the Temple of Augustus, Pula has plain Corinthian columns. Triumphal arches with fluting include the Arch of Augustus in Rimini , and the one in Susa , Arch of Trajan in Ancona , and all

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1496-576: The Temple of Hatshepsut , Deir el-Bahari , Egypt, c. 1470 BC bear a considerable resemblance to the Greek Doric column, although the capitals are plain square blocks. The columns taper slightly and have broad flutes that disappear into the floor. It has been suggested that columns of this type influenced the Greeks. Persian columns do not follow the Classical orders, but were developed during

1564-514: The giant order columns on the facade are plain, but the main pilasters in the interior are cable-fluted, and smaller columns, for example framing the doors, are fluted. Plain columns and fluted pilasters became a common mixture, not least because at least the internal pilasters are often stucco over brick, making fluting much easier and cheaper than carving in stone. Although, like other Renaissance manuals, I quattro libri dell'architettura by Andrea Palladio (1570) recommended and illustrated

1632-720: The City livery companies were required to form associations to provide funds for use in the Ulster Plantation . Although this venture passed into history a long time ago, over 400 years later the Masons Company maintains its friendly relationships with the Mercers ’, Cooks ’ and Broderers ’ companies that formed the Association at the time. In June 1675, Thomas Strong, a liveryman and subsequently Court Assistant of

1700-959: The Council of City and Guilds , the Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship, the Stone Federation of Great Britain, the Building Crafts College, the City and Guilds of London Art School , the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust , the Weald and Downland Living Museum , the Incorporation of Masons of Glasgow, and the Construction Livery Group representing 18 livery companies. In common with many other livery companies,

1768-497: The Greek Doric, but they are more numerous, and therefore narrower. The large columns at Persepolis have as many as 40 or 48 flutes, with smaller columns elsewhere 32; the width of a flute is kept fairly constant, so the number of flutes increases with the girth of the column, in contrast to the Greek practice of keeping the number of flutes on a column constant and varying the width of the flute. The early Doric temples seem to have had

1836-523: The Greeks in the Ionic and Corinthian orders, and to mix fluted and unfluted columns in the same building more often. The external columns on the Colosseum , which use the three classical orders on different levels, are not fluted, nor are the large monolithic granite Corinthian columns of the portico of the Pantheon, Rome , a very grand temple, though many columns in the interior are. However, it

1904-421: The Ionic; in some cases these were also at the bottom of the shaft. The possibility of influence, perhaps indirect, from the Greco-Roman world has been discussed by scholars. However, vertical fluting cannot be called a common form of decoration. In Byzantine architecture columns were mostly relatively small and functional rather than decorative. They were used to support galleries, ciboriums over altars and

1972-623: The Masons’ Company, laid the foundation stone of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and thirty-three years later, in 1708, his brother Edward Strong, a Past Master of the Company, laid the last stone on the lanthorn of the Cathedral. In 1677, the Company was formally incorporated by Royal Charter. Moving forward to the twentieth Century, to mark the 500th anniversary of the Grant of Arms, in 1972, there was

2040-534: The Monument by British composer Samuel Bordoli was performed 18 times during the weekend. This was the first occasion that music had ever been heard inside the structure and effectively transformed Hooke's design into a gigantic reverberating musical instrument. Wren and Hooke built the monument to double-up as a scientific instrument. It has a central shaft meant for use as a zenith telescope and for use in gravity and pendulum experiments that connects to an underground laboratory for observers to work (accessible through

2108-510: The Monument. Updated every minute and running 24 hours a day, it provides a record of weather, building and ground activity in the city. The Monument stands in Monument Square, formerly known as Monument Yard which was merged into Monument Street in 1911, created as part of the pedestrianisation of Monument Street. It sits on the east side of Fish Street Hill, and extends to Pudding Lane . A glass pavilion, designed by Bere Architects ,

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2176-518: The apparent geometry of the design, that Greek architects introduced. These include entasis , swelling in the middle part of the shaft, tapering at the top of the shaft, and a slight slant to the whole column. In the Parthenon the depth of the flutes increases towards the top of the shafts. In the earliest Doric examples the columns are rather slim, and often only have 16 flutes. By the mid-6th century BC shafts were thicker, and 20 became settled as

2244-503: The area: Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies. The words blaming Catholics were chiselled out with Catholic Emancipation in 1830. The west side of the base displays a relief sculpture by Caius Gabriel Cibber , representing in allegorical form the destruction and restoration of the City of London. The latter is personified by a languishing woman sustained by Time and Providentia ; Charles II, assisted by his brother James , directs

2312-422: The column shafts and pilasters visually from plain masonry walls behind. Fluting promotes a play of light on a column which helps the column appear more perfectly round than a smooth column. As a strong vertical element it also has the visual effect of minimizing any horizontal joints. Greek architects viewed rhythm as an important design element. As such, fluting was often used on buildings and temples to increase

2380-464: The column still exist, with Wren's signature on them indicating his approval of the drawings rather than their authorship. It was not until 1671 that the City Council approved the design, and it took six years to complete the 202 feet (61.6 m) column. It was two more years before the inscription (which had been left to Wren – or to Wren's choice – to decide upon)

2448-792: The concave style almost exclusively. Fluting was very common in formal ancient Greek architecture , and compulsory in the Greek Doric order . It was optional for the Ionic and Corinthian orders . In Roman architecture it was used a good deal less, and effectively disappeared in European medieval architecture. It was revived in Renaissance architecture , without becoming usual, but in Neoclassical architecture once again became very common in larger buildings. Throughout all this, fluting

2516-492: The conventional Vitruvian styles of fluting, in his own buildings Palladio very rarely used fluting; in the Doric and Corinthian orders, his shafts are "almost never fluted", and in the Ionic he "never used fluted shafts". Fluting dramatically returned to European architecture in the late 18th century with Neoclassical architecture , especially Greek Revival architecture . By this time publications which measured and illustrated authentic Greek Doric buildings were available, and

2584-452: The curved sides. By the time of the second Heraion of Samos , perhaps around 550 BC, lathes were being used. Fluting is treated as optional in Ionic and Corinthian buildings, or perhaps was sometimes left for later if money was running short; in some buildings the fluting was probably carved long after the initial "completion". The fluting used for the Ionic and Corinthian orders was slightly different, normally with fillets between

2652-469: The earliest remaining examples of fluting in limestone columns can be seen at Djoser's necropolis in Saqqara , built by Imhotep in the 27th century BC. The Temple of Luxor , mostly about 1400 BC, has different types in different areas. In some types only part of the shaft is fluted; some columns at Luxor have five different zones of vertical fluting or horizontal banding. Some of the smaller columns at

2720-598: The emphasis was on fine coloured stone, and the architecture of the Middle Ages in the West. Columns in buildings of the Doric order were almost always fluted; the unfluted columns of the temple of Segesta in Sicily are one of the reasons that archaeologists believe the temple was never completed, probably because of war. They demonstrate that the plain columns, made of several circular "drums", were put into place before

2788-426: The flutes are convex rather than concave, so the effect is the inverse of Greek fluting. Fluting is generally with the intention of making the column look like a bundle of plant stems, and the "papyriform column" is one of several types, which did not become standardized into "orders" in the Greek way. Often vertical fluting is interrupted by horizontal bands, suggesting binding holding a group of stems together. One of

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2856-471: The flutes were carved to ensure the grooves matched up perfectly. But the flutes of the top and bottom drums appear to have been started, to give a guide for the rest. A now isolated Ionic column at the Temple of Apollo, Didyma shows this; only part of the top drum has been fluted. Another unfinished Ionic drum section in the agora at Kos has been marked up for fluting, which never took place. In both of these examples there are rather wide margins outside

2924-556: The flutes, that may appear flat, but actually follow the curvature of the column. Despite Ionic columns of a given height being slimmer than Doric ones, they have more flutes, with 24 being settled on as the standard, after early experiments. These took the number as high as 48 in some columns in the second building of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Turkey, one of the earliest "really large Greek temples", of about 550 BC. Ionic and Corinthian flutes are also deeper, some approaching

2992-418: The flutes, which ended in a sharp arris, being worn down by people brushing past. The flutes continue right down to the base of the column, and at the top usually pass through three very narrow bands cut into the stone before reaching the base of the capital, where the shaft swells slightly. The flutes were carved by making an initial narrow cut to the appropriate depth in the centre of each flute, then shaping

3060-424: The fluting to the roughly finished surface. There has been considerable modern exploration of the mathematical techniques used to create models of templates for fluting. The practical problems for the masons were increased by the variable girth of the shafts, which both tapered overall and had the entasis swelling in the middle. Greek masons had also to allow for the various refinements, or subtle departures from

3128-774: The following century into the company we would recognise today. By 1463, the Masons’ Hall was established near the Guildhall; the sale of the Company’s Hall was agreed in 1865, and a plaque now marks the place where the Hall stood in Masons’ Avenue. In 1472, the Company was granted armorial bearings, and in 1481 they ratified a set of ordinances before the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London. At the behest of King James I , in 1609-10

3196-403: The idea of his statue atop the monument and instead preferred a simple copper-gilded ball "with flames sprouting from the top", costing a little over £325, but ultimately it was the design of a flaming gilt-bronze urn suggested by Robert Hooke that was chosen. The total cost of the monument was £13,450 11 s 9 d. , of which £11,300 was paid to the mason-contractor Joshua Marshall. (Joshua Marshall

3264-771: The imperial arches in Rome. Large temples with unfluted columns include the Temple of Saturn (Ionic, and a late rebuilding), the Temple of Venus and Rome , and others in the Roman Forum . Sections of column shafts with relatively shallow vertical concave fluting were used in India, especially in early rock-cut architecture , as at the Buddhist Ajanta Caves . They were typically mixed with horizontal bands of more complex ornament, such as garlands or floral scrolls. These were useful for covering what might be awkward transitions between different zones. Spiral fluting

3332-437: The like. Byzantine taste appreciated rare and expensive types of stone, and like to see these in round and polished form. Even ancient columns re-used as spolia were probably smoothed down if fluted, as they are so rarely seen in Byzantine buildings. Columns continued to be important in Romanesque and Gothic architecture , often engaged or clustered together in bunches. But the shafts are almost always plain. An exception

3400-455: The military is also well supported, including HMS Portland , 36 (Engineer) Regiment , No.14 Squadron RAF , Royal Regiment of Scotland and 15 Company, South West London Army Cadet Force . The Masons’ Company Charitable Trust and the Masons’ Company Craft Fund are the two independent charities which work in parallel with the Company. The Craft Fund is primarily interested in fostering the craft of stonemasonry, focussing on those studying at

3468-435: The number of flutes, thereafter very rarely deviated from when using the Doric order. This fixing of the number seems to have happened while "Temple C" at Selinus was being built, around 550 BC, as there is a mixture of 16 and 20 flutes. In some buildings, especially secular stoas and the like, the bottom of the shaft might be left smooth up to about the height of a man. Greek Doric columns had no base, and this prevented

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3536-421: The reconstruction works surrounded by female allegories of Architecture, Imagination, Freedom, Justice and Fortitude; Envy lies powerlessly at the bottom of the scene, while Plenty and Peace watch benevolently from above. It gives its name to the nearby London Underground station , Monument . The first Rebuilding Act, passed in 1669, stipulated that "the better to preserve the memory of this dreadful visitation",

3604-427: The reign of King Edward IV ; its motto is “God Is Our Guide”. The Masons’ Company (not to be confused with the Freemasons), which emerged in the late Middle Ages, played an important role in medieval and early modern London. It regulated the craft of stonemasonry, for example by ensuring that standards and the training of apprentices were properly maintained, at first just in the City of London, but subsequently also in

3672-510: The sense of rhythm. It may also be incorporated in columns to make them look thinner, lighter, and more elegant. It is generally agreed that fluting was used on wooden columns (none of which have survived) before it was used on stone; with a curved adze applying concave fluting to wooden columns made from tree trunks, would have been relatively easy. Convex fluting was probably intended to imitate plant forms. Minoan and Mycenaean architecture used both, but Greek and Roman architecture used

3740-489: The shaft of the column, and may run either the entire shaft length from the base to the capital, or with the lower third of the column shaft filled. The latter application is used to complement the entasis of the column, which begins one third of the way up from the bottom of the shaft. Fluting might be applied to freestanding, structural columns, as well as engaged columns and decorative pilasters . Ancient Egyptian architecture used fluting in many buildings; most often

3808-415: The shaft of the monument stairwell to measure deformation in a hanging wire. By twisting and untwisting a wire hanging down the shaft of the stairwell, they were able to detect deformation at less than 9 parts per billion – equivalent to a one-degree twist over the length of the 160-foot (50 m) wire. During the 2007–2009 refurbishment, a 360-degree panoramic camera was installed on top of

3876-422: The site of the shop of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor), the king's baker, where the blaze began. The viewing platform near the top of the Monument is reached by a narrow winding staircase of 311 steps. A mesh cage was added in the mid-19th century to prevent people jumping to the ground, after six people died by suicide there between 1788 and 1842. Three sides of the base carry inscriptions in Latin . The one on

3944-485: The south side describes actions taken by King Charles II following the fire. The inscription on the east side describes how the Monument was started and brought to perfection, and under which mayors. Inscriptions on the north side describe how the fire started, how much damage it caused, and how it was eventually extinguished. The Latin words "Sed Furor Papisticus Qui Tamdiu Patravit Nondum Restingvitur" ( transl.  "but Popish frenzy, which wrought such horrors,

4012-399: The use of natural stone. It remains one of the few Livery Companies today whose craft, particularly its tools, would be recognisable to its early members. Of all the ancient crafts used in Britain, masons have left the most impressive and most permanent evidence of their work. Members of the Company are known to have taken part in the construction of many of these famous structures, for example,

4080-399: The year, along with various fellowship events. The Company’s support for the craft of stonemasonry continues with the Duke of Gloucester Awards for Excellence in the Craft of Stonemasonry, which take the form of a Certificate and cash prize. The Masons’ Company maintains direct contact with those involved in stonemasonry, training, the construction industry, and the City Civic. These include

4148-413: Was Master of the Masons' Company in 1670.) The Edinburgh-born writer James Boswell visited the Monument in 1763 to climb the 311 steps to what was then the highest viewpoint in London. Halfway up, he suffered a panic attack , but persevered and made it to the top, where he found it "horrid to be so monstrous a way up in the air, so far above London and all its spires". In 1913 two suffragettes unfurled

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4216-448: Was built on the site of St Margaret, New Fish Street , the first church to be destroyed by the Great Fire. It is Grade I- listed and is a scheduled monument . Another monument, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner , marks the point near Smithfield where the fire was stopped. The Monument comprises a Doric column built of Portland stone topped with a gilded urn of fire. It was designed by Robert Hooke . Its height marks its distance from

4284-423: Was central to Renaissance architecture , built between the 15th and 17th centuries in Europe. But columns were used sparingly in the Early Renaissance , except for courtyard arcades, and fluting is slow to appear. The Pazzi Chapel in Florence by Filippo Brunelleschi (1429) has plain columns (outside) but cable-fluted pilasters inside and out. A similar mixture is seen in St Peter's Basilica in Rome, where

4352-448: Was eventually chosen. The real contention came with the problem of what type of ornament to have at the top. Initially, Wren favoured a statue of a phoenix with outstretched wings rising from the ashes, but as the column neared completion he decided instead on a 15 ft (4.6 m) statue either of Charles II, or a sword-wielding female to represent a triumphant London; the cost of either being estimated at £1,050. Charles himself disliked

4420-421: Was set in place. "Commemorating – with a brazen disregard for the truth – the fact that 'London rises again ... three short years complete that which was considered the work of ages. ' " Hooke's surviving drawings show that several versions of the monument were submitted for consideration: a plain obelisk, a column garnished with tongues of fire, and the fluted Doric column that

4488-514: Was unveiled on 31 January 2007. if the day were bright, you observed upon the house-tops, stretching far away, a long dark path; the shadow of the Monument; and turning round, the tall original was close beside you, with every hair erect upon his golden head, as if the doings of the city frightened him. 51°30′36.5″N 0°5′9.4″W  /  51.510139°N 0.085944°W  / 51.510139; -0.085944 Fluting (architecture) Especially in stone architecture, fluting distinguishes

4556-412: Was used in several of the decorative arts in various media. If the flutes (hollowed-out grooves) are partly re-filled with moulding , this form of decorated fluting is cabled fluting , ribbed fluting , rudenture , stopped fluting or stop-fluting . Cabling refers to this or cable molding . When this occurs in columns, it is on roughly the lower third of the grooves. This decorative element

4624-422: Was very practical, strengthening the plate against heavy blows. It was especially common in the early 16th-century style called Maximilian armour , after Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor . Masons%27 Company The Worshipful Company of Masons is one of the ancient 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

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