A Thatched Church

I have seen many thatched building in my time, but never a church! This can be found at on Bedbury Lane / Gate Lane, Freshwater Bay on the Isle of Wight. It is not far from the Dimbola Museum and Galleries, which also just so happens to have a really good Tea Rooms serving a Cream Tea!

Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
SCIENTIST, INVENTOR, GEOLOGIST, ASTRONOMER, ENGINEER, ARCHITECT

Child of Freshwater - A Truly Remarkable Man

Architecture and the Great Fire
St Agnes Church was built in 1908, reputedly with stone from the cottage where Robert Hooke was born. He went on to design churches and many other significant buildings, collaborating with Sir Christopher Wren on the Dome of St Paul's Cathedral and the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

He was working in London at the time of the Great Fire in 1666, experiencing at close hand the squalor and stench of the narrow alleyways. At 32, he was appointed a Surveyor for the rebuilding of the City, working closely with his friend Sir Christopher Wren.

Hooke had an understanding of the methods employed in building and the properties of stone, brick and timber.

(On this information board by this thatched church can be found an architect’s drawing of the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral)