Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family. At age 18 he became a clerk for Sir Christopher Wren, and worked with him on all his major projects. Hawksmoor emerged as one of the great masters of the English Baroque.
Hawksmoor was responsible for six new churches in London.
Each different, each is unique.
They are his best known independent works of architecture.
They are landmarks not only because of their size and colour, but because they are like no other buildings in Britain. Hawksmoor transcended the conventions of his era to place something truly original in public view. He was a postmodernist before postmodernism, raiding history for motif and ornament, and arranging them into something new. He was a 'dream architect', plucking forms from the subconscious and deploying them to boggle our minds.
: David Shariatmadari, writing in The Guardian
Hawksmoor was also an active freemason. It has been argued that there are hidden symbols amongst the obelisks, pyramids and imitation altars that feature in the architecture of his London churches. Hawksmoor was also an active freemason, earning him the somewhat unjustified nickname of the 'devil's architect'.
Hawksmoor churches are brilliantly unusual and well worth visiting!