出生於宗教世家，父親為溫莎（Windsor）副主教，叔父為伊利（Ely）主教，他就讀於威斯敏斯特學院及牛津華德漢學院，學習天文科學，又成於藝術，對繪畫有很高的天份。1666年9月英國發生倫敦大火，燒毀了當時為黑死病所苦的倫敦市。1666年10月1日，建築師雷恩爵士（Sir Christopher Wren）提出了全倫敦市災後的修復方案，受到大地主的反對而未能實現。但是他擔任了災後復興委員會的要員，大舉修護毀損文物，他重建了51座教堂，其中的聖保羅大教堂工程從1675年開始重建，直到1710年才告完工，共花費了75萬英鎊。他參與的建築工程還包括皇家的肯辛頓宮、漢普頓宮、紀念碑、皇家交易所、格林威治天文臺。最後他在距起火點普丁巷61公尺處設立了一個紀念碑（The Monument），高61.5公尺，共有311階，頂端為火焰飾圍繞的圓球。1723年去世，死後葬於聖保羅教堂。
克里斯多佛·雷恩爵士 主要建設
禮堂
Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge
Emmanuel College Chapel, Cambridge
Catholic Chapel, Whitehall Palace
教堂
St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, London
St Andrew, Holborn, London
St Anne and St Agnes, Gresham Street, London
St Benet Fink, Threadneedle Street, London
St Benet Paul's Wharf, Queen Victoria Street, London
St Bride, Fleet Street, London
St Clement Danes, Strand, Westminster
St Clement Eastcheap, London
St Dunstan in the East, London
St Edmund the King, Lombard Street, London
St James Garlickhythe, Garlick Hill, London
St James's Piccadilly, Westminster
St Lawrence Jewry, London
St Magnus Martyr, Lower Thames Street, London
St Margaret Pattens, London
St Margaret, Lothbury, London
St Martin Ludgate, London
St Mary Abchurch, London
St Mary Aldermary, Bow Lane, London
St Mary-at-Hill, Thames Street, London
St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, London
St Michael, Cornhill, London (tower and upper half of main building)
St Michael, Paternoster Royal, College Hill, London
St Nicholas, Cole Abbey, London
St Paul's Cathedral
St Peter upon Cornhill, Cornhill, London
St Stephen Walbrook, London
St Vedast alias Foster, Foster Lane, London
Enlarged the Protestant Church in the Savoy, London
Ingestre Church, Staffordshire
全毀
All Hallows the Great, Lombard Street, London
All Hallows, Bread Street, London
All Hallows, Lombard Street, London
Christ Church Newgate, Newgate Street, London
St Alban, Wood Street, London
St Anne's Church, Soho
St Antholin, Watling Street, London
St Augustine with St Faith, Watling Street, London
St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange, Exchange, London
St Benet, Gracechurch Street, London
St Christopher-le-Stocks, Threadneedle Street, London
St Dionis Backchurch, Fenchurch Street, London
St George, Botolph Lane, London
St Mary Aldermanbury*, London
St Mary Magdalene, Old Fish Street, London
St Mary Somerset, Thames Street, London
St Matthew, Friday Street, London
St Michael Queenhithe, Upper Thames Street, London
St Michael, Crooked Lane, London
St Michael, Wood Street, London
St Mildred, Bread Street, London
St Mildred, Poultry, London
St Olave Old Jewry, London
St Stephen Coleman, Coleman Street, London
St Swithin London Stone, Cannon Street, London
Gateways & entrances
Temple Bar, London
Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford
政府行政機關
The Custom House, London
The Navy Office, Seething Lane, London
警衛室
Guard House, Windsor Castle
醫院
The Royal Hospital, Chelsea
Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich
Morden College, Blackheath, London (like Greenwich Hospital intended as a retirement home, but for retired merchants rather than sailors)
房屋
Tring Manor House, Hertfordshire
Thoresby House, Nottinghamshire
Bridgewater Square Development, London
Winslow Hall, Buckinghamshire
Marlborough House, St James's, London
2 King's Bench Walk, Inner Temple, London
圖書館
Lincoln Cathedral Library, Lincoln
he Wren Library of Trinity College, Cambridge
紀念碑
The Monument, Fish Street Hill, London
Observatories & scientific buildings
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Repository, Royal Society, Crane Court, Fleet Street, London
宮庭
Proposed addition to Whitehall Palace (portion of 1698 sketch by Christopher Wren)Winchester Palace, Winchester
Catholic Chapel, Council Chamber and Privy Gallery, Whitehall Palace
Queen's Apartment and Terraced Garden, Whitehall Palace
South and East Ranges, Hampton Court Palace
Reconstruction of Kensington Palace
學校與學院
Upper School, Eton College, Berkshire
Writing School, Christ's Hospital, London
St John Moore's School, Appleby, Leicestershire
The Wren Building of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
戲院
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford (not for plays but for concerts and University ceremonies)
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (since replaced)
註: 伦敦大火纪念碑也是一個倫敦旅遊時的著名景點
伦敦大火纪念碑（Monument to the Great Fire of London）
