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Old St Paul's Cathedral

Coordinates:51°30′49″N0°5′54″W/ 51.51361°N 0.09833°W/51.51361; -0.09833
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Old St Paul's Cathedral
The central tower of a large gothic cathedral. The central tower is buttressed and with an imposing wooden spire. An octagonal chapter house is in the foreground.
Digital reconstruction giving an impression of Old St Paul's during the Middle Ages. The image is based on a model of the Cathedral in theMuseum of London,composited with a modern city background.
Old St Paul's Cathedral is located in City of London in 1300
Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's on a 1300 map of theCity of London
51°30′49″N0°5′54″W/ 51.51361°N 0.09833°W/51.51361; -0.09833
DenominationChurch of England
History
DedicationSaint Paul
EventsCathedral and canonry destroyed by fire—1087, 1666
Architecture
Previous cathedrals3
StyleEnglish Gothic
Years built
  • c. 604–675
  • c. 685–961
  • c. 962–1087
  • 1087–1666
Administration
DioceseLondon
Deanery
Clergy
Bishop(s)Bishop of London
DeanDean of St Paul's
Building details
Map
Record height
Tallest in the world from the mid-13th century to 1311[I]
Preceded byGreat Pyramid of Giza
Surpassed byLincoln Cathedral

Old St Paul's Cathedralwas thecathedralof theCity of Londonthat, until theGreat Fire of 1666,stood on the site of the presentSt Paul's Cathedral.Built from 1087 to 1314 and dedicated toSaint Paul,this building was perhaps the fourth such church at this site onLudgate Hill,going back to the 7th century.[1]

St Erkenwald, foundational figure in the history of St Paul's Cathedral

Work on the cathedral began after afire in 1087,which destroyed the previous church. Work took more than 200 years, and over that time the architecture of the church changed fromNorman Romanesqueto earlyEnglish Gothic.The church wasconsecratedin 1240, enlarged in 1256 and again in the early 14th century. At its completion in the mid-14th century, the cathedral was one of thelongest churches in the world,hadone of the tallest spiresand some of the fineststained glass.

Shrine of St Erkenwald, relics removed 1550, lost as a monument in the Great Fire of London

The continuing presence of the shrine of the 7th century bishopSaint Erkenwaldmade the cathedral a site ofpilgrimagein the Middle Ages.[2]In addition to serving as the seat of theDiocese of London,the building developed a reputation as a social hub, with the nave aisle, "Paul's walk",known as a business centre and a place to hear the news and gossip on the Londongrapevine.During theReformation,the open-air pulpit in the churchyard,St Paul's Cross,became the place for radical evangelical preaching and Protestantbookselling.

The cathedral was in structural decline by the early 17th century. Restoration work begun byInigo Jonesin the 1620s was temporarily halted during theEnglish Civil War(1642–1651). In 1666, further restoration was in progress underSir Christopher Wrenwhen the cathedral was devastated in theGreat Fire of London.At that point, it was demolished, and the present cathedral was built on the site.[3]

Construction[edit]

Old St Paul's Cathedral was perhaps the fourth church atLudgate Hilldedicated to St Paul.[2]Adevastating firein 1087,[4]detailed in theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle,destroyed much of the cathedral.[5]King William I (William the Conqueror)donated the stone from the destroyed Palatine Tower on theRiver Fleettowards the construction of aRomanesqueNorman cathedral, an act sometimes said to be his last before death.[6][7]

Bishop Mauriceoversaw preparations, although it was primarily under his successor,Richard de Beaumis,that construction work fully commenced. Beaumis was assisted byKing Henry I,who gave the bishop stone and asked that all material brought up the River Fleet for the cathedral should be free from toll. To fund the cathedral, Henry I gave Beaumis rights to all fish caught within the cathedral neighbourhood andtitheson venison taken in the County of Essex. Beaumis also gave a site for the original foundation ofSt Paul's School.[8]

Henry I's death was followed by a period of unrest and civil war known as "The Anarchy".Henry of Blois,Bishop of Winchester, was appointed to administer the affairs of St Paul's. Almost immediately, he had to deal with the aftermath ofa fireatLondon Bridgein 1135. It spread over much of the city, damaging the cathedral and delaying its construction.[8]During this period, the architectural style was changed from heavyRomanesquetoEarly English Gothic.Although the base Norman columns were left alone,lancet pointed archeswere placed over them in thetriforiumand some heavy columns were substituted with clustered pillars. The steeple was erected in 1221 and the cathedral was rededicated by BishopRoger Nigerin 1240.[9]

New work (1255–1314)[edit]

After a succession of storms, in 1255Bishop Fulk Bassetappealed for money to repair the roof. The roof was rebuilt in wood, which ultimately ruined the building. At this time, the east end of the cathedral church was lengthened, enclosing theparish church of St Faith,which was now brought within the cathedral.[9]The eastward addition was referred to as "The New Work".[10]

An engraving of Old St Paul's cathedral seen from above. The building is in a cross shape, architecturally rectangular and very long west to east, with flying buttresses along the quire. In the centre is a square central tower, which in this picture has a tall spire. The building looms over the old City of London before the Great Fire.
A 1916 engraving of Old St Paul's as it appeared before the fire of 1561 in which the spire was destroyed

After complaints from the dispossessed parishioners of St Faith's, the east end of the west crypt was allotted to them as their parish church. The congregation were also allowed to keep a detached tower with a peal of bells east of the church which had historically been used to peal the summons to theCheapsideFolkmote.The parish later moved to the Jesus chapel during the reign ofEdward VIand was merged withSt Augustine Watling Streetafter the 1666 fire.[11]

This "New Work" was completed in 1314, although the additions had been consecrated in 1300.[12]Excavations in 1878 byFrancis Penroseshowed the enlarged cathedral was 586 feet (179 m) long (excluding the porch later added by Inigo Jones) and 100 feet (30 m) wide (290 feet (88 m) across thetranseptsandcrossing).[13]

A 15th-century monastic funeral procession entering Old St Paul's. The coffin is covered by a blue and goldpall,and thegraveis being dug in the foreground.

The cathedral had one ofEurope's tallest church spires,the height of which is traditionally given as 489 feet (149 m), surpassing all butLincoln Cathedral.The King's Surveyor,Christopher Wren(1632–1723), judged that an overestimate and gave 460 feet (140 m).[14]In 1664, Robert Hooke used a plumb-line to calculate the height of the tower as "two hundred and four feet very near, which is about sixty feet higher than it was usually reported to be."[15]William Benhamnoted that the cathedral probably "resembled in general outline that ofSalisbury,but it was a hundred feet longer, and the spire was sixty or eighty feet higher. The tower was open internally as far as the base of the spire, and was probably more beautiful both inside and out than that of any other English cathedral. "[14]

Chapter house[edit]

According to the architectural historianJohn Harvey,the octagonalchapter house,built about 1332 byWilliam de Ramsey,was the earliest example ofPerpendicular Gothic.[16]This is confirmed byAlec Clifton-Taylor,who notes that the chapter house andSt Stephen's Chapelat the medievalWestminster Palacepredate the early Perpendicular work atGloucester Cathedralby several years.[17]The foundations of the chapter house were recently made visible in the redeveloped south churchyard of the new cathedral.[18]

Interior[edit]

Old St Paul's, still with its spire, as shown on the"Copperplate" mapof the 1550s

The finished cathedral of the Middle Ages was renowned for the beauty of its interior. Canon William Benham wrote in 1902: "It had not a rival in England, perhaps one might say in Europe."[14]

Thenave's length was particularly notable, with a Normantriforiumandvaulted ceiling.The length earned it the nickname "Paul's walk".The cathedral'sstained glasswas reputed to be the best in the country, and the east-endrose windowwas particularly exquisite. The poetGeoffrey Chaucerused the windows as ametaphorin "The Miller's Tale"fromThe Canterbury Tales,[19]knowing that other Londoners at that time would understand the comparison:

His rode was red, his eyen grey as goose,
With Paule's windows carven on his shoes
In hosen red he went full fetisly.

From the cathedral's construction until its destruction, the shrine ofErkenwaldwas a popular pilgrimage site.[20]UnderBishop Maurice,reports of miracles attributed to the shrine increased, with the shrine attracting thousands of pilgrims.[20]The alliterative Middle English poemSt Erkenwald(sometimes attributed to the 14th-century "Pearl Poet") begins with a description of the construction of the cathedral, referring to the building as the" New Werke ".[21][22]

The shrine was adorned with gold, silver and precious stones. In 1339, three London goldsmiths were employed for a whole year to rebuild the shrine to a higher standard.[23]William Dugdale records that the shrine waspyramidalin shape with an altar table placed in front for offerings.[24]

Engraving of the nave, a vast, long space with Norman arches stretching into the distance and a vaulted ceiling. The rose window is just visible in the distance.
Wenceslas Hollar'sengravingof the cathedral nave, "Paul's walk"

Monarchs and other notables were often in attendance at the cathedral, andthe courtoccasionally held sessions there.[25]The building was also the place of several incidents. In 1191, whilstKing Richard Iwas in Palestine, his brotherJohnsummoned a council of bishops to St Paul's to denounceWilliam de Longchamp,Bishop of Ely – to whom Richard had entrusted government affairs – for treason.[26]

Later that year,William Fitz Osberngave a speech against the oppression of the poor at Paul's Cross and incited a riot which saw the cathedral invaded, halted by a plea fromHubert Walter,Archbishop of Canterbury. Osbern barricaded himself inSt Mary-le-Bowand was executed, after which Paul's Cross was silent for many years.[27]

Arthur, Prince of Wales,son ofHenry VII,marriedCatherine of Aragonin St Paul's on 14 November 1501. Chroniclers are profuse in their descriptions of the decorations of the cathedral and city on that occasion. Arthur died five months later, at the age of 15, and the marriage was later proved contentious during the reign of his brother,Henry VIII.[25]

Several kings of the Middle Ages lay in state in St Paul's before their funerals atWestminster Abbey,includingRichard II,Henry VIandHenry VII.[25]In the case of Richard II, the display of his body in such a public place was to dispel rumours that he was not dead.[28]The walls were lined with the tombs of bishops and nobility. In addition to the shrine of Erkenwald, twoAnglo-Saxonkings were buried inside:Sebbi,King of theEast Saxons,andÆthelred the Unready.[29]

A number of figures such asJohn of Gaunt, 1st Duke of LancasterandJohn de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp de Warwickhad particularly large monuments constructed within the cathedral, and the building later contained the tombs of the Crown ministerNicholas Bacon,Sir Philip Sidney,andJohn Donne.[30]Donne's monument survived the 1666 fire, and is on display in the present building.[31]

Paul's Walk[edit]

Main article:Paul's walk
A lofty Norman cathedral interior is full of people treating the building like a marketplace.
John Franklin's illustration of Paul's Walk forWilliam Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 novelOld Saint Paul's

The first historical reference to the nave, "Paul's walk", being used as a marketplace and general meeting area is recorded during the 1381–1404 tenure ofBishop Braybrooke.[32]The bishop issued an open letter decrying the use of the building for selling "wares, as if it were a public market" and "others... by the instigation of the Devil [using] stones and arrows to bring down the birds, jackdaws and pigeons which nestle in the walls and crevices of the building. Others play at ball... breaking the beautiful and costly painted windows to the amazement of spectators."[33]His decree goes on to threaten perpetrators withexcommunication.[34]

By the 15th century, the cathedral had become the centre of the Londongrapevine.[35]"News mongers", as they were called, gathered there to pass on the latest news and gossip.[36]Those who visited the cathedral to keep up with the news were known as "Paul's walkers".

According toFrancis Osborne(1593–1659):

It was the fashion of those times... for the principal gentry, lords, courtiers, and men of all professions not merely mechanic, to meet in Paul's Church by eleven and walk in the middle aisle till twelve, and after dinner from three to six, during which times some discoursed on business, others of news. Now in regard of the universal there happened little that did not first or last arrive here... And those news-mongers, as they called them, did not only take the boldness to weigh the public but most intrinsic actions of the state, which some courtier or other did betray to this society.[37]

St Paul's became the place to go to hear the latest news of current affairs, war, religion, parliament and the court. In his playEnglishmen for my Money,William Haughton(d. 1605) described Paul's walk as a kind of "open house" filled with a "great store of company that do nothing but go up and down, and go up and down, and make a grumbling together".[38]

Infested with beggars and thieves, Paul's walk was also a place to pick up gossip, topical jokes, and even prostitutes.[39][40]In hisMicrocosmographie(1628), a series of satirical portraits of contemporary England,John Earle(1601–1665), described it thus:

[Paul's walk] is the land's epitome, or you may call it the lesser isle of Great Britain. It is more than this, the whole world's map, which you may here discern in its perfectest motion, justling and turning. It is a heap of stones and men, with a vast confusion of languages; and were the steeple not sanctified, nothing liker Babel. The noise in it is like that of bees, a strange humming or buzz mixed of walking tongues and feet: it is a kind of still roar or loud whisper... It is the great exchange of all discourse, and no business whatsoever but is here stirring and a-foot... It is the general mint of all famous lies, which are here like the legends of popery, first coined and stamped in the church.[41][42]

Decline (16th century)[edit]

A colourful painting of a sermon being preached to hundreds of people from a wooden pulpit in the grounds of the old cathedral. The perspective of the image is wrong, making the people look huge by comparison to the building.
A sermon preached fromSt Paul's Cross(bottom left) in 1614

By the 16th century the building was deteriorating. UnderHenry VIIIandEdward VI,theDissolution of the MonasteriesandChantries Actsled to the destruction of interior ornamentation and thecloisters,charnels,crypts,chapels,shrines,chantriesand other buildings in the churchyard.[43]

Many of these former religious sites inSt Paul's Churchyard,having been seized by the crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers andbooksellers,such asThomas Adams,who were oftenProtestants.[43][44]Buildings that were razed often supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace,Somerset House.[12]

Engraving of St Paul's at a later date showing the rose window. The spire has been lost.
Rose windowof Old St Paul's Cathedral (spire no longer in place after the fire of 1561)

Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the Churchyard,St Paul's Cross,where open-air preaching took place. It was there in the Cross Yard in 1549 that radical Protestant preachers incited a mob todestroymany of the cathedral's interior decorations. In 1554, in an attempt to end inappropriate practices taking place in the nave, theLord Mayordecreed that the church should return to its original purpose as a religious building, issuing a writ stating that the selling of horses, beer and "other gross wares" was "to the great dishonour and displeasure of Almighty God, and the great grief also and offence of all good and well-disposed persons".[45]

Spire collapse (1561)[edit]

A graffito executed on a wall ofSt Mary's Church, Ashwellin Hertfordshire is believed to show Old St Paul's Cathedral.[46]

On 4 June 1561, the spire caught fire and crashed through the nave roof. According to a newsheet published days after the fire, the cause was a lightning strike.[47]In 1753, David Henry, a writer forThe Gentleman's Magazine,revived a rumour in hisHistorical description of St Paul's Cathedral,writing that a plumber had "confessed on his death bed" that he had "left a pan of coals and other fuel in the tower when he went to dinner."[48]However, the number of contemporary eyewitnesses to the storm and a subsequent investigation appears to contradict this.[47]

Whatever the cause, the subsequent conflagration was hot enough to melt the cathedral's bells and the lead covering the wooden spire "poured down like lava upon the roof", destroying it.[11][49]This event was taken by both Protestants and Catholics as a sign of God's displeasure at the other faction's actions.[49]Queen Elizabeth Icontributed £1,000 in gold towards the cost of repairs as well as timber from the royal estate[50]and the Bishop of LondonEdmund Grindalgave £1200, although the spire was never rebuilt.[49]The repair work on the nave roof was sub-standard, and only fifty years after the rebuilding was in a dangerous condition.[51]

An engraving showing the cross-shaped plan of the cathedral.
Wenceslaus Hollar's 1658 plan of the cathedral
An image of the west front of the cathedral, showing a somewhat incongruous classical-style porch added to the cathedral, with eight tall columns, looking a little like the Parthenon.
Classical-style West Front byInigo Jones,added between 1630 and 1666

Restoration work (1621–1666)[edit]

Concerned at the decaying state of the building,King James Iappointed theclassicalarchitectInigo Jonesto restore the building. The poet Henry Farley records the king comparing himself to the building at the commencement of the work in 1621: "Ihave had more sweeping, brushing and cleaning than in forty years before. My workmen looke like him they call Muldsacke after sweeping of a chimney. "[52]

In addition to cleaning and rebuilding parts of the Gothic structure, Jones added a classical-style portico to the cathedral's west front in the 1630s, which William Benham notes was "altogether incongruous with the old building... It was no doubt fortunate that Inigo Jones confined his work at St Paul's to some very poor additions to the transepts, and to a portico, very magnificent in its way, at the west end."[53]

Work stopped during theEnglish Civil War,and there was much defacement and mistreatment of the building byParliamentarianforces during which old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed, and the nave used as a stable for cavalry horses.[54]Much of the detailed information historians have of the cathedral is taken fromWilliam Dugdale's 1658History of St Pauls Cathedral,written hastily duringThe Protectoratefor fear that "one of the most eminent Structures of that kinde in the Christian World" might be destroyed.[55]

Indeed, a persistent rumour of the time suggested thatCromwellhad considered giving the building to London'sreturning Jewish communityto become asynagogue.[56]Dugdale embarked on his project due to discovering hampers full of decaying 14th and 15th century documents from the cathedral's early archives.[57][58]In his book's dedicatory epistle, he wrote:

... so great was your foresight of what we have since by wofull experience seen and felt, and specially in the Church, (through thePresbyteriancontagion, which then began violently to breake out) that you often and earnestly incited me to a speedy view of what Monuments I could, especially in the principall Churches of this Realme; to the end, that by Inke and paper, the Shadows of them, with their Inscriptions might be preserved for posteritie, forasmuch as the things themselves were so neer unto ruine.[55]

Dugdale's book is also the source for many of the surviving engravings of the building, created byBohemianetcherWenceslaus Hollar.In July 2010, an original sketch for Hollar's engravings was rediscovered when it was submitted toSotheby'sauction house.[58]

Great Fire of London (1666)[edit]

See also:St Paul's Cathedral

After therestorationof the monarchy,King Charles IIappointed SirChristopher Wrento the position of Surveyor to the King's Works. He was given the task of restoring the cathedral in a style matching Inigo Jones' classical additions of 1630.[59]Wren instead recommended that the building be completely demolished; according to his first biographer,James Elmes,Wren “expressed his surprise at the carelessness and want of accuracy in the original builders of the structure”; Wren's son described the new design as "The Gothic rectified to a better manner of architecture".[60]

Both the clergy and citizens of the city opposed such a move.[61]In response, Wren proposed to restore the body of the gothic building, but replace the existing tower with a dome.[61]He wrote in his 1666Of the Surveyor's Design for repairing the old ruinous structure of St Paul's:

It must be concluded that the Tower from Top to Bottom and the adjacent parts are such a heap of deformaties that no Judicious Architect will think it corrigible by any Expense that can be laid out upon new dressing it.[62]

Wren, whose uncleMatthew Wrenwas Bishop of Ely, admired the central lantern ofEly Cathedraland proposed that his dome design could be constructed over the top of the existing gothic tower, before the old structure was removed from within.[62]This, he reasoned, would prevent the need for extensive scaffolding and would not upset Londoners ( "Unbelievers" ) by demolishing a familiar landmark without being able to see its "hopeful Successor rise in its stead."[63]

The matter was still under discussion when the restoration work on St Paul's finally began in the 1660s but soon after being sheathed in wooden scaffolding, the building was completely gutted in theGreat Fire of Londonof 1666.[61]The fire, aided by the scaffolding, destroyed the roof and much of the stonework along with masses of stocks and personal belongings that had been placed there for safety.[64]Samuel Pepysrecalls the building in flames in his diary:[65]

Up by five o'clock, and blessed be God! find all well, and by water to Paul's Wharf. Walked thence and saw all the town burned, and a miserable sight of Paul's Church, with all the roof fallen, and the body of thechoirfallen into St. Faith's; Paul's School also, Ludgate, andFleet Street.

John Evelyn's account paints a similar picture of destruction:

September 3rd – I went and saw the whole south part of the City burning from Cheapeside to the Thames, and... was now taking hold of St Paule's Church, to which the scaffolds contributed exceedingly.
September 7th – I went this morning on foote from White-hall as far as London Bridge, thro' the late Fleete-streete, Ludgate Hill, by St Paules... At my returne I was infinitely concern'd to find that goodly Church St Paules now a sad ruine, and that beautiful portico... now rent in pieces, flakes of vast stone split asunder, and nothing now remaining intire but the inscription in the architrave, shewing by whom it was built, which had not one letter of it defac'd. It was astonishing to see what immense stones the heate had in a manner calcin'd, so that all the ornaments, columns, freezes, capitals, and projectures of massie Portland-stone flew off, even to the very roofe, where a sheet of lead covering a great space (no less than six akers by measure) was totally mealted; the ruines of the vaulted roofe falling broke into St. Faith's, which being fill'd with the magazines of bookes belonging to the Stationers, and carried thither for safety, they were all consum'd, burning for a weeke following. It is also observable that the lead over the altar at the East end was untouch'd, and among the divers monuments, the body of one Bishop remain'd intire. Thus lay in ashes that most venerable Church, one of the most antient pieces of early piety in the Christian world.[66]

  • The tomb of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster in the choir of St Paul's Cathedral, as represented in an etching of 1658 by Wenceslaus Hollar. The etching includes a number of inaccuracies, for example in not showing the couple with joined hands. The tomb was lost in the Great Fire of 1666.
    The tomb ofJohn of GauntandBlanche of Lancasterin the choir of St Paul's Cathedral, as represented in an etching of 1658 byWenceslaus Hollar.The etching includes a number of inaccuracies, for example in not showing the couple with joined hands. The tomb was lost in the Great Fire of 1666.
  • The Great Fire of London, depicted by an unknown painter (1675), as it would have appeared from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September 1666. To the left is London Bridge; to the right, the Tower of London. St Paul's Cathedral is in the distance, surrounded by the tallest flames.
    TheGreat Fire of London,depicted by an unknown painter (1675), as it would have appeared from a boat in the vicinity ofTower Wharfon the evening of Tuesday, 4 September 1666. To the left isLondon Bridge;to the right, theTower of London.St Paul's Cathedral is in the distance, surrounded by the tallest flames.
  • An engraving showing huge flames leaping from the roof of the cathedral.
    Old St Paul's Cathedral in flames, 1666
  • A man and boy survey the ruins of the cathedral, of which the roof is gone and only a few walls are left standing.
    Remains of the Cathedral after the fire drawn byThomas Wyck,c. 1673
  • A prototype drawing of Christopher Wren's new cathedral, with a very different central tower, looking like a large upturned funnel.
    Sir Christopher Wren's approved "warrant design"
  • Christopher Wren's drawing of his new St Paul's. The building is quite fat, with two fussy pinacle towers at the west end. In the middle is a huge dome, which looks a bit like a breast on a wedding cake.
    Sir Christopher Wren's final design for the new cathedral

Aftermath[edit]

An 1871 illustration showing the positions of the old and new St Paul Cathedrals

Temporary repairs were made to the building. While it might have been salvageable, albeit with almost complete reconstruction, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style instead, a step which had been contemplated even before the fire. Wren declared that it was impossible to restore the old building.[67]

The following April, the DeanWilliam Sancroftwrote to him that he had been right in his judgement: "Our work at the west end," he wrote, "has fallen about our ears." Two pillars had collapsed, and the rest was so unsafe that men were afraid to go near, even to pull it down. He added, "You are so absolutely necessary to us that we can do nothing, resolve on nothing without you."[67]

Following this declaration by the Dean, demolition of the remains of the old cathedral began in 1668. Demolition of the Old Cathedral proved unexpectedly difficult as the stonework had been bonded together by molten lead.[68]Wren initially used the then-new technique of usinggunpowderto bring down the surviving stone walls.[69]Like many experimental techniques, the use of gunpowder was not easy to control; several workers were killed and nearby residents complained about noise and damage. Eventually, Wren resorted to using abattering raminstead. Building work on thenew cathedralbegan in June 1675.[70]

Wren's first proposal, the "Greek cross" design, was considered too radical by members of a committee commissioned to rebuild the church. Members of the clergy decried the design as being too dissimilar from churches that already existed in England at the time to suggest any continuity within theChurch of England.[71]Wren's approved "Warrant design" sought to reconcile theGothicwith his "better manner of architecture", featuring a portico influenced by Inigo Jones' addition to the old cathedral.[71]However, Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design, and over the course of the construction made significant alterations, including the addition of the famous dome.[71]

Thetopping outofthe new cathedraltook place in October 1708 and the cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament in 1710. The consensus on the finished building was mixed; James Wright (1643–1713) wrote "Without, within, below, above the eye/ Is filled with unrestrained delight."[72]Meanwhile, others were less approving, noting its similarity toSt Peter's Basilicain Rome: "There was an air ofPoperyabout the gilded capitals, the heavy arches... They were unfamiliar, un-English. "[73]

Notable burials in Old St Paul's[edit]

Nicholas Stone's 1631 monument toJohn Donnesurvived the fire. It depicts the poet, standing upon an urn, dressed in awinding cloth,rising for the moment of judgment. This depiction, Donne's own idea, was sculpted from a painting for which he posed.[74]

No further memorials or tombs survive of the many famous people buried at Old St Paul's. In 1913 theletter-cutterMacDonald GillandMervyn Macartneycreated a new tablet with the names of lost burials which was installed in Wren's cathedral:[75]

  • Memorial to John Donne, St Paul's Cathedral
    Memorial toJohn Donne,St Paul's Cathedral
  • A memorial listing those buried or memorialised in the old cathedral
    A memorial listing those buried or memorialised in the old cathedral

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Benham, 3–7.
  2. ^abMilman, 22.
  3. ^Clifton-Taylor, 237–243.
  4. ^"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p107:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
  5. ^Milman, 21.
  6. ^Milman, 23.
  7. ^Benham, 3.
  8. ^abBenham, 4–5.
  9. ^abBenham, 5.
  10. ^Benham, 6.
  11. ^abReynolds, 194.
  12. ^ab"1087 cathedral".St Paul's official website.Retrieved26 August2014.
  13. ^Clifton-Taylor, 275.
  14. ^abcBenham, 8.
  15. ^Jardine, Lisa (2001). "Monuments and Microscopes: Scientific Thinking on a Grand Scale in the Early Royal Society".Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London.55(2): 289–308.doi:10.1098/rsnr.2001.0145.S2CID144311552– via JSTOR.
  16. ^Harvey, 105.
  17. ^Clifton-Taylor, 196.
  18. ^Peterkin, Tom (4 June 2008)."St Paul's Cathedral opens new South Churchyard".The Daily Telegraph.London.Retrieved18 November2009.
  19. ^Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Miller's Tale”,The Canterbury TalesatProject Gutenberg
  20. ^abWebb, 29.
  21. ^Anon.St. Erkenwald,lines 39–48.
  22. ^Meyer, 163–164.
  23. ^Cummings, 56.
  24. ^Jones, 172.
  25. ^abcBenham, 36.
  26. ^Milman, 38.
  27. ^Benham, 28.
  28. ^Milman, 81.
  29. ^Benham, 17.
  30. ^Benham, 15–18.
  31. ^"1087 cathedral".St Paul's official website.Retrieved26 August2013.
  32. ^Benham, 16.
  33. ^Milman, 83–84.
  34. ^Milman, 84.
  35. ^Benham, 14.
  36. ^Notestein, 31.
  37. ^Chamberlain, 1. Quotation of Osborne, Francis (1689), 449–451.
  38. ^Quoted in Ostovich, 61.
  39. ^Notestein, 30–32.
  40. ^Ostovich, 108n, 215n.
  41. ^Earle, 103–104.
  42. ^Quoted in Notestein, 31n.
  43. ^abChambers, 135–136.
  44. ^Gollancz. xxvi.
  45. ^Quoted in Benham, 47.
  46. ^Kevin De Ornellas (2013).The Horse in Early Modern English Culture: Bridled, Curbed, and Tamed.Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 77.ISBN978-1-61147-659-0.
  47. ^abPollard, A. F., ed.,Tudor Tracts,(1903)pp. 401–407, from the contemporary newsheet;The True Report of the Burning of the Steeple and Church of St Pauls,London (1561)
  48. ^Henry, 13.
  49. ^abcBenham, 50.
  50. ^Simons, Paul."Lightning strike on St Paul's Cathedral".The Times.Retrieved20 June2021.
  51. ^Benham, 64.
  52. ^Quoted in Benham, 68. A muld was a tribute or an offering.
  53. ^Benham, 67–68.
  54. ^Kelly, 50.
  55. ^abDugdale, William(1658).The History of St Paul's Cathedral in London from its Foundation until these Times.London: T. Warren.
  56. ^Benham, 68.
  57. ^Kelly, 56–59.
  58. ^ab"Detailed Drawing of London's Old St Paul's Cathedral, to Be Sold at Sotheby's".artdaily.Retrieved5 September2010.
  59. ^Lang, 47–63.
  60. ^Wightwick, G. (1859). "On the Architecture and Genius of Sir Christopher Wren".The Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal.22.Kent: 257.
  61. ^abcCassell, 605.
  62. ^abClifton-Taylor, 237.
  63. ^van Eck, 155–160.
  64. ^Chambers, 137.
  65. ^Pepys, Samuel (1666).DiaryatProject Gutenberg
  66. ^Quoted in Benham, 74–75.
  67. ^abBenham, 74–75.
  68. ^Hart, 18.
  69. ^Benham, 76.
  70. ^"1668 — The Demolition".St Paul's official website.Retrieved26 August2013.
  71. ^abcDownes, 11–34.
  72. ^Wright, James (1697).The Choire.London.Quoted in Baron, 117–119.
  73. ^Tinniswood, 31.
  74. ^White, Adam (7 July 2019)."Nicholas Stone".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7819.ISBN978-0-19-861412-8.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  75. ^Weaver, Lawrence (1915).Memorials & Monuments Old and New: Two hundred subjects chosen from seven centuries.London: Country Life. p.349.
  76. ^Dimock, Arthur (1900).The Cathedral Church of St Paul.London: George Bell & Sons. p. 20.
  77. ^Hutchinson, Robert (2007).Elizabeth's Spy Master: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England.London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 297.ISBN978-0-297-84613-0.

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External links[edit]

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