St Paul's Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral is one of the most famous cathedrals of London. Situated in the City of London it is an iconic part of the city's skyline. Moreover, St Paul’s is the cathedral of the Diocese of London.

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History

The cathedral we see today is the fourth one at this place. The Romans were the first ones who dedicated a temple to their goddess Diana right there.

In 604 AD the first cathedral was build by St Ethelbert (552-616 AD), King of Kent who was the first Christian king of England. He introduced St Mellitus as the first Bishop of London. This first cathedral was mainly made of wood and was thus destroyed by a fire some 60-70 years later.

Between 675 and 685 AD the second cathedral was erected which lasted for almost 300 years until the Vikings destroyed it.

After that, Old St Paul's was build by the Normans (starting in 1087 AD). This one was already a gigantic building which was even bigger than today's cathedral. Until it was struck by lightning in 1561, it was not only the biggest building of England but it had also the highest tower of the world.

Following the Reformation the nave was used in various ways, as, for instance, an indoor market hall (selling fish, beer, ale, meat & fruits),or as a market hall to find servants, as a place of assembly for jurists, as well as for horse traders. At that time the tombs and the baptismal font served as counters.

In addition, the foot (1 ft = 30 cm) was defined as a unit of measurement at this place. It is similar to the foot length of the statue of St Algar. The first lottery of Great Britain also took place in Old St Paul's during this time. The tickets were sold at the west entrance. Although a lot of money was earned with this lottery the funds were not used to overhaul the cathedral, but rather to repair ports. Only in 1630 it was acknowledged that the cathedral was in need of repair. Thus, Charles I tried to do everything in his power to rebuild it (with the involvement Inigo Jones, the most prestigious architect at the time) but with the outbreak of the Civil War the operations came to a standstill again.

Cromwell used the cathedral as barracks for his cavalry. The parlamentarian army battered the windows, burned all the woodwork and eliminated the portraits and effigies.

Twenty years later the Great Fire of London levelled the cathedral to the ground in 1666.

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Wren's Masterpiece

Sir Christopher Wren started to build his masterpiece in 1675. The cathedral's building time lasted 35 years. The construction works came to a halt because of an earthquake in Dorset in 1690. Due to this earthquake the break up of the Portland sandstone had to stop and the material's replenishment was interrupted.

The most extraordinary part of the building is the cupola. It is made up of a wooden framework that is coated with lead. This then stands over an brick-built inner cupola. The cross ahead is 112 metres above the ground. Together with the lantern it weighs approximately 700 tons.

During the construction period Wren headquartered across the river. Even today one can see a memorial plaque on a red brick house near New Globe Theatre in Southwark. He usually inspected the building site once a week, drawn up in a basket onto the roof and the cupola. Wren was one of the few architects who was able to witness the completion of his masterpiece with his son placing the closer [here is something missing, isn't it?] Sir Christopher Wren was one of the first who were laid to rest in the crypt of the cathedral.

James II called the cathedral:"amusing, awful, and artificial", which meant - at that time - that he was simply delighted by this building.

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Trivia

In 1925 a tear could be seen in the cupola. An immediate calling for donations brought about £230 000 - including 5 pence donated by 5 Scots.

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Tombs in St Paul's

• Admiral David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (crypt)
• Sir Alexander Fleming (crypt)
• Charles George Gordon
• William Holman Hunt (crypt)
• Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe (crypt)
• John of Gaunt, father of king Henry IV (old cathedral)
• Henry de Laci, 3rd Earl of Lincoln (old cathedral)
• Admiral Lord Nelson (crypt)
• Sir Philip Sidney (crypt)
• Sir Arthur Sullivan (crypt)
• Joseph Mallord William Turner (crypt)
• John Weldon (old cathedral)
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (crypt)
• Fieldmarshall Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (crypt)
• Sir Christopher Wren (crypt)

Not buried in St Paul's are Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale; although both have a memorial in the cathedral's crypt.

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Sources:

Yapp, Nick and Rupert Tenison. London - Geheimnisse&Glanz einer Weltstadt. Köln: Könemann (1999).

St Ethelbert - http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05553b.htm

St Paul's Cathedral - http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Cathedral-History

St Paul's Cathedral - http://deu.archinform.net/projekte/3835.htm