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 St
Paul's is one of the architectural achievements of the world,
built in 1675 - 1710 to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren
replacing the medieval cathedral of St Paul's, which was destroyed
in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Since its completion
the cathedral has been the setting for many state ceremonies.
Wren's cathedral is the fifth
to stand on the site. The first cathedral was built
shortly after Mellitus was consecrated Bishop of the East
Saxons by St Augustine in AD 604. Within a century this
wooden cathedral was destroyed by fire and replaced by the
first stone cathedral built by St Erkenwald, which later became
the site of his shrine and a place of pilgrimage. However,
this building was plundered and fired by the Vikings and was
replaced by a Saxon cathedral at the end of the 10th century,
which was destroyed by fire in 1087.
 Work
then began on the church that would become the largest in
England and one of three greatest in Europe. The huge
cathedral, 596 feet long and dedicated to St Paul, was completed
in the middle of the 13th century, and in 1315 a spire, almost
500 high and the tallest ever built, was added. In
1444 the spire was struck by lightning and although replaced,
the new spire was also destroyed by lightning a century later.
Despite losing its spire, the
great cathedral dominated Elizabethan London, but the building
had become neglected and it was damaged during the Civil War,
when its choir was used as a cavalry barracks. Before
the Civil War Inigo Jones had worked on the restoration of
St Paul's and after 1660 the young Christopher Wren was asked
advise on the improvement of the decaying church. He
suggested the building of a dome but in 1666, the Great Fire
of London destroyed most of the city, including the medieval
cathedral.
In 1669 Christopher Wren, who
had become the foremost architect of his age, was commissioned
to build a new St Paul's. His first design, based on
a Greek Cross plan, where all four arms are equal, was rejected
by the Commissioners who insisted on the conventional Latin
cross, with a long nave and short transepts.
Wren's second design was reluctantly
approved and under the patronage of Charles II, the architect
was given permission to make changes where he saw fit.
The scale model of this second design, unveiled in 1673, can
still be seen in the cathedral and reveals the variations
Wren made.
The demolition of the ruins of
the Old St Paul's took nine years and it was not until 1675
that work began on the new cathedral. Following the
tradition, work started at the east end and by 1686 the foundations
of the west end were laid. The chancel was consecrated
in 1697 and ten years later the baroque towers of the west
front were almost complete. In 1710 the dome was finished
and the following year the building of St Paul's were declared
complete by Parliament. The work had taken 35 years,
and by the time it was finished Wren was 79 years old.
Every year, until his death at the age of 90, Wren went back
to sit under the dome. His burial place in the crypt
of St Paul's is marked by a simple slab which bears the inscription
in Latin, 'Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you'.
Wren had gathered some of the
finest artists of his age and two of the most talented were
Grinling Gibbons, from Rotterdam, and Jean Tijou, a Huguenot
refugee. Although Gibbons did some work on the outside,
his test skills are displayed in the interior, where he designed
and carved the choir stalls and worked on the organ case.
Tijou, one of the greatest craftsmen of wrought iron, created
the sanctuary gates in the north, the south choir stalls,
the altar rail and many other beautiful works around the cathedral.
St Paul's glory is its dome,
and Wren was inspired by the great lantern at Ely Cathedral,
where his uncle was Bishop, and wanted St Paul's to have a
similar focus of beauty. At 360 feet tall, the elaborate
dome is one of the highest in the world. Eight arches
spread the weight of the dome onto eight supporting piers.
Wren intended that the inside of the dome was to have a with
mosaic. However, against his wishes Sir James Thornhill
was commissioned to paint the monochrome scenes from the life
of St Paul, which have always be highly praised.
From the south aisle a spiral
staircase of 259 steps leads the visitor up to the Whispering
Gallery. Here the unusual acoustics cause whispers to
echo around the dome. Above the Whispering Gallery are
the Stone and Golden Galleries, from which there are views
over London.Since Wren's
death in 1723 other artists have embellished St Paul's.
In the crypt, which is the largest
in Europe, many great heroes have been buried, and important
artists have created their memorials.
The nave aisle is dominated by
the monument to the Duke of Wellington, whilst Lord Nelson
is buried in the great marble sarcophagus made for Cardinal
Wolsey but never used because of his fall from grace.
Other tombs include those of Reynolds, Lawrence and Turner,
three of England's greatest painters.
Of the cathedrals many works
of art, one is the lifesize up-right effigy of John Donne
(1573 - 1631) by Nicholas Stone, the only surviving piece
of Old St Paul's. Other treasures include Flaxman's
statue of Nelson and Holman Hunt's 'Light of the World' which
hangs in the south aisle and is the artist's own copy of his
masterpiece at Keble College, Oxford.
The fine mosaics on the choir
ceiling were completed by William Richmond in the 1890s, and
high above the high altar is an ornate and beautifully decorated
baldacchino, the latest of the cathedral's works of art.
Based on Wren's original drawings and consecrated in 1958.
St Paul's national importance
is emphasised by the Chapel of the Order of the British Empire,
dedicated in 1960, and Chapel of St Michael and St George,
an order conferred on those who have given distinguished dedicated
to the 28,000 American servicemen, based in Britain, who lost
their lives in World War II.
St Paul's has been the setting
for many ceremonial occasions including the funeral of Sir
Winston Churchill in 1965 and the wedding of Prince Charles
and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.
One of the two baroque towers
houses 'Great Paul', the largest bell in England, which weighs
17 tonnes. This bell is tolled each day at 1.00 pm.
Admission charge
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St Paul's
