St Paul's Cathedral
Encyclopedia
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England
cathedral
and seat of the Bishop of London
. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill
, the highest point in the City of London
, and is the mother church of the Diocese of London
. The present church dating from the late 17th century was built to an English Baroque
design of Sir Christopher Wren, as part of a major rebuilding program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London
, and was completed within his lifetime.
The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet (111.3 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom
after Liverpool Cathedral
.
St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population. It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz
. Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington
and Sir Winston Churchill
; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales
, and Lady Diana Spencer
, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.
in London. According to the tradition recorded by Bede
, the first Saxon
cathedral was built by Mellitus
in AD 604 in Lundenwic. The unproven conjecture that it occupied the site of the present cathedral is supported by the fact that it was these missionaries' habit, as in mainland Europe, to build cathedrals within Roman cities. However, the Roman city of London, then called Lundenburh, was unoccupied at that time, unlike conditions in the areas of continental Europe where there was continuity of urban occupation and ecclesiastic succession. Geoffrey of Monmouth
claimed that the cathedral had been built on the site of a temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, in alignment with the Apollo
temple that he imagined once stood at Westminster
, although Christopher Wren
found no evidence of this. Geoffrey was disbelieved by contemporaries, and there is no evidence of any occupation at the Westminster site in the Roman period. If any church building existed, perhaps a reutilised existing structure, then it would have only been a modest chapel at first and may well have been destroyed after Mellitus was expelled from the city by Sæberht's pagan
successors.
Wherever its predecessor was sited, the successor building within the reoccupied City (built ca 886) was destroyed in a "most fatal fire" in 962, as mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
. Presumably it was made of timber.
The third cathedral was begun in 962, perhaps in stone. In it was buried Ethelred the Unready
. It burnt, with the whole city, in a fire in 1087
, noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
The fourth St Paul's, known when architectural history arose in the 19th century as Old St Paul's, was begun by the Normans
after the 1087 fire. Work took over 200 years and a great deal was lost in a fire in 1136. The roof was once more built of wood, which was ultimately to doom the building. The church was consecrated in 1240, but a change of heart led to the commencement of an enlargement programme in 1256. When this 'New Work' was completed in 1314 — the cathedral had been consecrated in 1300 — it was the third-longest church in Europe and had one of Europe's tallest spires, at some 489 feet (149 m). Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178.3 m) long and 100 feet (30.5 m) wide (290 feet or 87 m across the transept
s and crossing
).
By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry VIII
and Edward VI
, the Dissolution of the Monasteries
and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloister
s, charnels, crypt
s, chapel
s, shrine
s, chantries
and other buildings in St Paul's Churchyard. Many of these former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were often Puritans. Buildings that were razed often supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House
.
Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross
, where open-air preaching took place. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning and it was not replaced; this event was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics
as a sign of God
's displeasure at the other faction's actions.
England's first classical
architect, Inigo Jones
, added the cathedral's west front in the 1630s, but there was much defacing mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian
forces during the Civil War
, when the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed (Kelly 2004). "Old St Paul's" was gutted in the Great Fire of London of 1666. 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. Indeed this had been contemplated even before the fire.
as his principal assistant. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was enagaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.
Wren had begun advising on the repair of the cathedral before the Great Fire of 1666, in fact as early as 1661. This included drawings for the addition of a dome to the existing building to replace the dilapidated spire, and a restoration of the interiors that would complement the 1630 Inigo Jones-designed facade. After the fire, the ruins of the building were still thought to be workable, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh.
St Paul's went through five general stages of design. The first survives only in the form of a part of a model and a single drawing. The scheme (usually called the First Model Design) appears to have consisted of a round domed entrance vestibule (possibly based on the Pantheon in Rome) and a rectangular basilica
behind containing the choir. It was rejected because it was not thought "stately enough" Wren’s second design was a Greek cross, which was considered to be too radical by his critics.
Wren's third proposal for the new St Paul's used many of the same design concepts as his Greek cross design, though it had an extended nave. This design was embodied in his creation in 1673 of the "Great Model". The model, made of oak and plaster, cost over £500 (approximately £32,000 today) and is over 13 feet (4 m) tall and 21 feet (6 m) long. His critics, members of a committee commissioned to rebuild the church and 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 the Church of England. Clergymen also preferred a Latin cross plan for services. Another problem was that the entire design would have to be completed all at once because of the eight central piers that supported the dome, instead of being completed in stages and opened for use before construction finished, as was customary. Wren considered the Great Model his favourite design, and thought it a reflection of Renaissance
beauty. After the Great Model, Wren resolved to make no more models or publicly expose his drawings, which he found to do nothing but "lose time, and subject his business many times, to incompetent judges".
Wren's fourth design, the Warrant design, sought to reconcile the Gothic
, the predominant form of English churches, to a "better manner of architecture." Wren attempted to integrate the same concepts of Renaissance harmony into a more Gothic tradition - however Vaughan Hart identifies exotic inspiration behind the remarkable pagoda
-like spire. This design was rotated slightly on its site so that it aligned not with true east, but with sunrise on Easter of the year construction began. This small change in configuration made by Wren was informed by his knowledge of astronomy. His design of the portico was influenced by Inigo Jones’s addition to Old St Paul's.
The final design as built differs substantially from the official Warrant design. Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design, and Wren took great advantage of this. Many of these changes were made over the course of the thirty years as the church was constructed, and the most significant was to the dome: "He raised another structure over the first cupola, a cone of brick, so as to support a stone lantern of an elegant figure... And he covered and hid out of sight the brick cone with another cupola of timber and lead; and between this and the cone are easy stairs that ascend to the lantern" (Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren). The final design was strongly rooted in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
. The saucer domes that were eventually added to the design were inspired by François Mansart
's Val-de-Grâce
, which Wren had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665. The date of the laying of the first stone of the cathedral is disputed. One contemporary account says it was on 21 June 1675, another on 25 June and a third on 28 June. There is, however, general agreement that it was laid in June 1675. Edward Strong later claimed it was laid by his elder brother, Thomas Strong, one of the two master stonemasons appointed by Wren at the beginning of the work.
On 2 December 1697, thirty-two years and three months after a spark from Farryner's bakery had caused the Great Fire of London, St Paul's Cathedral came into use. The widower King William III
had been scheduled to appear but, uncomfortable in crowds and public displays, had bowed out at the last minute. The crowd of both the great and the small was so big, and their attitude towards William so indifferent, that he was scarcely missed. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of Psalm
122, "I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord." The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.
The "topping out" of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place in October 1708 and the cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day). In fact construction was to continue for several years after that, with the statues on the roof only being added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556 (£ as of ).
The consensus was as it is with all such works: some loved it ("Without, within, below, above the eye/ Is filled with unrestrained delight."); some hated it ("...There was an air of Popery about the gilded capitals, the heavy arches...They were unfamiliar, un-English.."); while most, once their curiosity was satisfied, didn't think about it one way or another.
The Warrant Design showed external buttresses on the ground floor level. These were not a classical feature and were one of the first elements Wren changed. Instead he made the walls of the cathedral particularly thick to avoid the need for external buttresses altogether. The windows are set into deep recesses in the walls. The upper parts of the cathedral walls are reinforced with small flying buttresses, which were added at a relatively late design change to give extra strength. These are concealed behind a large screen wall, which was added to keep the building's classical style intact.
The large crossing dome is composed of three layers: the first triple dome ever to be constructed. The inner and outer layers are catenary
curves, but the structural integrity to support the heavy stone structure atop the dome is provided by a intermediary layer which is much steeper and more conical
in shape. The dome is restrained round its base by a wrought iron chain to prevent it spreading and cracking. Further iron chains are in stone bands at intervals in the brick cone and around the cornice of the peristyle.
in a late Renaissance style that represents Wren's vision of a rationalised English Baroque. Its impressive dome
was inspired by St Peter's Basilica
in Rome and Mansart
's Church of the Val-de-Grâce
which Wren had visited. It rises 365 feet (108 m) to the cross at its summit, dominating both the historic and modern City of London through the Baroque device of axial perspectives or 'viewing corridors' across the cityscape. Wren achieved a pleasing balance between interior and exterior by constructing three domes nested one inside the other: the tall outer dome is non-structural and raised above the mass of the cathedral to suit distanced views; the lower inner dome provides a harmoniously balanced interior; between the two a structural cone supports the apex lantern and the outer dome. Wren was said to have been hauled up to the rafters in a basket during the building of its later stages to inspect progress.
The nave
has three small chapels in the two adjoining aisle
s – The Chapel of All Souls and The Chapel of St Dunstan in the north aisle and the Chapel of St Michael and St George in the south aisle. The main space of the cathedral is centred under the inner dome, which rises 108.4 metres from the cathedral floor and holds three circular galleries – the internal Whispering Gallery, the external Stone Gallery, and the external Golden Gallery.
The Whispering Gallery
runs around the inside of the dome 99 feet (30.2 m) above the cathedral floor. It is reached by 259 steps from ground level. It gets its name because of the acoustic effects peculiar to domes; a whisper against its wall at any point is audible to a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery. A low murmur is equally audible.
The base of the inner dome is 173 feet (53.4 m) above the floor. Its top is about 65 m above the floor, making this the greatest height of the enclosed space. The cathedral is some 574 feet (175 m) in length (including the portico of the Great West Door), of which 223 feet (68 m) is the nave and 167 feet (50.9 m) is the choir. The width of the nave is 121 feet (36.9 m) and across the transepts is 246 feet (75 m). The cathedral is thus slightly shorter but somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.
The quire
extends to the east of the dome and holds the stalls for the clergy
and the choir and the organ
. To the north and south of the dome are the transepts, here called the North Choir and the South Choir.
Details of the towers at the west end (illustration, left) and their dark voids are boldly scaled, in order to read well from the street below and from a distance, for the towers have always stood out in the urban skyline. They are composed of two complementary elements, a central cylinder rising through the tiers in a series of stacked drums, and paired Corinthian columns
at the corners, with buttress
es above them, which serve to unify the drum shape with the square block plinth containing the clock. The main entablature breaks forward over the paired columns to express both elements, tying them together in a single horizontal band. The cap, like a bell-shaped miniature dome, supports a gilded finial, a pineapple supported on four scrolling angled brackets, the topmost expression of the consistent theme.
The north-west tower contains 13 bells hung for change ringing
while the south-west contains four, including Great Paul, at 16½ tons- the largest bell in the British Isles, cast in 1881, and Great Tom (the hour bell), recast twice, the last time by Richard Phelps
, after being moved from St Stephen's Chapel at the Palace of Westminster
. The bell is only rung on occasions of a death in the royal family, the Bishop of London, or the Lord Mayor of London
, although an exception was made at the death of US President James Garfield
.
In 1717, Richard Phelps cast two more bells that were added as "quarter jacks". Still in use today, the first weighs 13 long hundredweights (660.4 kg), is 41 inches (104.1 cm) in diameter and is tuned to A flat; the second weighs 35 long hundredweights (1,778.1 kg) and is 58 inches (147.3 cm) in diameter and is tuned to E flat.
- it was struck by bombs on 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941. On 12 September 1940 a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a bomb disposal
detachment of Royal Engineers
under the command of Temporary Lieutenant Robert Davies
. Had this bomb detonated, it would have totally destroyed the cathedral, as it left a 100 feet (30.5 m) crater when it was later remotely detonated in a secure location. As a result of this action, Davies was awarded the George Cross
, along with Sapper
George Cameron Wylie
.
On 29 December 1940, the cathedral had another close call when an incendiary bomb became lodged in the lead shell of the dome but fell outwards onto the Stone Gallery and was put out before it could ignite the dome timbers. One of the most iconic images of London during the war was a photograph of St Paul's taken the same day by photographer Herbert Mason, from the roof of the Daily Mail in Tudor Street showing the cathedral shrouded in smoke.
Lisa Jardine
of Queen Mary, University of London
has written:
Chapel and the Treasury. The cathedral has very few treasures: many have been lost, and in 1810 a major robbery took almost all of the remaining precious artefacts. Christopher Wren was the first person to be interred, in 1723: on the wall above his tomb in the crypt is written, "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice" (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).
St Paul's is home to other plaques, carvings, statues, memorials
and tombs of famous British figures including:
Most of the memorials commemorate the British military, including several lists of servicemen who died in action, the most recent being the Gulf War
. There are special monuments to Lord Nelson
in the south transept and to the Duke of Wellington in the north aisle; both are buried here. Also remembered are poets, painters, clergy and residents of the local parish. There are lists of the Bishops
and cathedral Deans for the last thousand years.
The cathedral has been the site of many famous funerals, including those of Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and George Mallory
.
Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher
is set to have a state funeral
at the cathedral upon her death.
The apse
of the cathedral is home to the American Memorial Chapel. It honours American servicemen and women who died in World War II
, and was dedicated in 1958. It was paid for entirely by donations from British people, and was designed, as a modern exercise in the Wren style, by Godfrey Allen and Stephen Dykes Bower
. The Roll of Honour contains the names of more than 28,000 Americans who gave their lives while on their way to, or stationed in, the United Kingdom during the Second World War. It is in front of the chapel's altar. The three chapel windows date from 1960; they feature themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the US armed forces. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket – a tribute to America's achievements in space
.
and faith
. Projects have included installations by Antony Gormley
, Rebecca Horn
, Yoko Ono
and Martin Firrell
.
Internationally acclaimed artist Bill Viola
has been commissioned to create two altarpieces for permanent display in St Paul's Cathedral. The project commenced production in mid 2009 with completion in early 2012. Following the extensive programme of cleaning and repair of the interior of St Paul's, completed in 2005, Bill Viola has been commissioned to create two altarpieces on the themes of Mary and Martyrs. These two multi-screen video installations will be permanently located at the end of the Quire aisles, flanking the High Altar of the Cathedral and the American Memorial Chapel where US Service men and women who gave their lives in the Second World War are commemorated. Each work will employ an arrangement of multiple plasma screen panels configured in a manner similar to historic altarpieces. The screens will be mounted on hinged panels, allowing them to be closed.
In Summer 2010, St Paul's chose two new works by the British artist Mark Alexander to be hung either side of the nave. Both entitled Red Mannheim, Alexander's large red silkscreens are inspired by the Mannheim Cathedral altarpiece (1739–41), which was damaged by bombing in the Second World War. The original sculpture depicts Christ on the cross, surrounded by a familiar retinue of mourners. Rendered in splendid giltwood, with Christ's wracked body sculpted in relief, and the flourishes of flora and incandescent rays from heaven, this masterpiece of the German Rococo is an object of ravishing beauty and intense piety.
In March 2010, Flare II, a sculpture by Antony Gormley, was installed in the dramatic setting of the Geometric Staircase.
In 2007, Dean and Chapter commissioned public artist Martin Firrell to create a major public artwork to mark the 300th anniversary of the topping-out of Wren's building. The Question Mark Inside consisted of digital text projections to the cathedral dome, West Front and inside onto the Whispering Gallery. The text was based on blog contributions by the general public as well as interviews conducted by the artist and the artist's own views. The project presented a stream of possible answers to the question: 'what makes life meaningful and purposeful, and what does St Paul's mean in that contemporary context?' The Question Mark Inside opened on 8 November 2008 and ran for eight nights.
A 15 year restoration project – one of the largest ever undertaken in the UK – was completed on 15 June 2011.
In 2010, the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's opened Oculus: an eye into St Paul's. Oculus is a 270° film experience that brings 1400 years of history to life. Located in the atmospheric former Treasury in the crypt, Oculus takes visitors on a journey through the history and daily life of St Paul's Cathedral. Oculus was funded by American Express Company in partnership with the World Monuments Fund, J. P . Morgan, the Garfield Weston Trust for St Paul’s Cathedral, the City of London Endowment Trust and AIG.
In 2010, new touchscreen multimedia guides were also launched. These guides are included in the price of admission. Visitors can discover the cathedral’s history, architecture and daily life of a busy working church with these new multimedia guides. They are available in 12 different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and British Sign Language (BSL). The guides have fly-through videos of the dome galleries and zoomable close-ups of breathtaking ceiling mosaics, painting and photography. Interviews and commentary from experts include the Dean of St Paul’s, conservation team and the Director of Music. Archive film footage includes major services and events from the cathedral's history.
The finances of the cathedral came under public scrutiny during the anti-capitalism Occupy London
encampment in front of the cathedral which began in October 2011. Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser
resigned, warning that to evict the anti-capitalist activists would constitute “violence in the name of the Church". It was claimed that the cathedral was losing revenue of £20,000 per day.
and 108 stops
, enclosed in an impressive case by Grinling Gibbons
.
Details of the organ from the National Pipe Organ Register
In 2007 the posts of Organist and Director of Music were separated, the Sub-Organist post being re-titled Organist & Assistant Director of Music in September 2008.
In 2007 the posts of Organist and Director of Music were separated, the Assistant Sub-Organist post being re-titled Sub-Organist in April 2008.
The title of Almoner then passed to one of the Minor Canons
, while the post of Master of the Choristers was held by a succession of Vicars Choral, including –
until –
The training of the choristers was then entrusted to the Organist & his deputies until –
The post was re-united with that of Organist under John Scott in 1990
17th century
18th century
19th century
20th century
:Category:Burials at St Paul's Cathedral
:Category:Deans of St Paul's
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
and seat of the Bishop of London
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill
Ludgate Hill
Ludgate Hill is a hill in the City of London, near the old Ludgate, a gate to the City that was taken down, with its attached gaol, in 1780. Ludgate Hill is the site of St Paul's Cathedral, traditionally said to have been the site of a Roman temple of the goddess Diana. It is one of the three...
, the highest point in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, and is the mother church of the Diocese of London
Diocese of London
The Anglican Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.Historically the diocese covered a large area north of the Thames and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north and west. The present diocese covers and 17 London boroughs, covering most of Greater...
. The present church dating from the late 17th century was built to an English Baroque
English Baroque
English Baroque is a term sometimes used to refer to the developments in English architecture that were parallel to the evolution of Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Utrecht ....
design of Sir Christopher Wren, as part of a major rebuilding program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
, and was completed within his lifetime.
The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet (111.3 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
after Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral
Liverpool Cathedral is the Church of England cathedral of the Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool and is the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool but it is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin...
.
St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population. It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz
Blitz
-Armed conflict:*The Blitz, the German aerial attacks on Britain in WWII. The name Blitz was subsequently applied to many individual bombing campaigns or attacks.*Blitzkrieg, the "lightning war", a strategy of World War 2 Germany-People:...
. Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
and Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, and Lady Diana Spencer
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for both the Golden Jubilee and 80th Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.
Pre-Norman
There had been a late-Roman episcopal seeEpiscopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
in London. According to the tradition recorded by Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, the first Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
cathedral was built by Mellitus
Mellitus
Mellitus was the first Bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergymen sent to augment the mission,...
in AD 604 in Lundenwic. The unproven conjecture that it occupied the site of the present cathedral is supported by the fact that it was these missionaries' habit, as in mainland Europe, to build cathedrals within Roman cities. However, the Roman city of London, then called Lundenburh, was unoccupied at that time, unlike conditions in the areas of continental Europe where there was continuity of urban occupation and ecclesiastic succession. Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
claimed that the cathedral had been built on the site of a temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, in alignment with the Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
temple that he imagined once stood at Westminster
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, although Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
found no evidence of this. Geoffrey was disbelieved by contemporaries, and there is no evidence of any occupation at the Westminster site in the Roman period. If any church building existed, perhaps a reutilised existing structure, then it would have only been a modest chapel at first and may well have been destroyed after Mellitus was expelled from the city by Sæberht's pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
successors.
Wherever its predecessor was sited, the successor building within the reoccupied City (built ca 886) was destroyed in a "most fatal fire" in 962, as mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
. Presumably it was made of timber.
The third cathedral was begun in 962, perhaps in stone. In it was buried Ethelred the Unready
Ethelred the Unready
Æthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II , was king of England . He was son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. Æthelred was only about 10 when his half-brother Edward was murdered...
. It burnt, with the whole city, in a fire in 1087
Early fires of London
In common with all old cities, London has experienced numerous serious fires in the course of its history.-Boudica's Revolt:The earliest fire of which there is definitive evidence occurred in 60 AD, during the revolt led by Queen Boudica, whose forces burned the town then known as Londinium to the...
, noted in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Old St Paul's
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
after the 1087 fire. Work took over 200 years and a great deal was lost in a fire in 1136. The roof was once more built of wood, which was ultimately to doom the building. The church was consecrated in 1240, but a change of heart led to the commencement of an enlargement programme in 1256. When this 'New Work' was completed in 1314 — the cathedral had been consecrated in 1300 — it was the third-longest church in Europe and had one of Europe's tallest spires, at some 489 feet (149 m). Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178.3 m) long and 100 feet (30.5 m) wide (290 feet or 87 m across the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s and crossing
Crossing (architecture)
A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...
).
By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
s, charnels, crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
s, chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
s, shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
s, chantries
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
and other buildings in St Paul's Churchyard. Many of these former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were often Puritans. Buildings that were razed often supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
.
Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross
St Paul's Cross
St Paul's Cross was a preaching cross and open air pulpit in the grounds of Old St Paul's Cathedral, City of London.-History:...
, where open-air preaching took place. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning and it was not replaced; this event was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
as a sign of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's displeasure at the other faction's actions.
England's first classical
Classical architecture
Classical architecture is a mode of architecture employing vocabulary derived in part from the Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, enriched by classicizing architectural practice in Europe since the Renaissance...
architect, Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
, added the cathedral's west front in the 1630s, but there was much defacing mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
forces during the Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, when the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed (Kelly 2004). "Old St Paul's" was gutted in the Great Fire of London of 1666. 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. Indeed this had been contemplated even before the fire.
Design and construction
The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669. He had previously been put in charge of designing over fifty other City churches. Throughout the extensive period of design and rationalisation Wren employed Nicholas HawksmoorNicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor was a British architect born in Nottinghamshire, probably in East Drayton.-Life:Hawksmoor was born in Nottinghamshire in 1661, into a yeoman farming family, almost certainly in East Drayton, Nottinghamshire. On his death he was to leave property at nearby Ragnall, Dunham and a...
as his principal assistant. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was enagaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.
Wren had begun advising on the repair of the cathedral before the Great Fire of 1666, in fact as early as 1661. This included drawings for the addition of a dome to the existing building to replace the dilapidated spire, and a restoration of the interiors that would complement the 1630 Inigo Jones-designed facade. After the fire, the ruins of the building were still thought to be workable, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh.
St Paul's went through five general stages of design. The first survives only in the form of a part of a model and a single drawing. The scheme (usually called the First Model Design) appears to have consisted of a round domed entrance vestibule (possibly based on the Pantheon in Rome) and a rectangular basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
behind containing the choir. It was rejected because it was not thought "stately enough" Wren’s second design was a Greek cross, which was considered to be too radical by his critics.
Wren's third proposal for the new St Paul's used many of the same design concepts as his Greek cross design, though it had an extended nave. This design was embodied in his creation in 1673 of the "Great Model". The model, made of oak and plaster, cost over £500 (approximately £32,000 today) and is over 13 feet (4 m) tall and 21 feet (6 m) long. His critics, members of a committee commissioned to rebuild the church and 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 the Church of England. Clergymen also preferred a Latin cross plan for services. Another problem was that the entire design would have to be completed all at once because of the eight central piers that supported the dome, instead of being completed in stages and opened for use before construction finished, as was customary. Wren considered the Great Model his favourite design, and thought it a reflection of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
beauty. After the Great Model, Wren resolved to make no more models or publicly expose his drawings, which he found to do nothing but "lose time, and subject his business many times, to incompetent judges".
Wren's fourth design, the Warrant design, sought to reconcile the Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, the predominant form of English churches, to a "better manner of architecture." Wren attempted to integrate the same concepts of Renaissance harmony into a more Gothic tradition - however Vaughan Hart identifies exotic inspiration behind the remarkable pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
-like spire. This design was rotated slightly on its site so that it aligned not with true east, but with sunrise on Easter of the year construction began. This small change in configuration made by Wren was informed by his knowledge of astronomy. His design of the portico was influenced by Inigo Jones’s addition to Old St Paul's.
The final design as built differs substantially from the official Warrant design. Wren received permission from the king to make "ornamental changes" to the submitted design, and Wren took great advantage of this. Many of these changes were made over the course of the thirty years as the church was constructed, and the most significant was to the dome: "He raised another structure over the first cupola, a cone of brick, so as to support a stone lantern of an elegant figure... And he covered and hid out of sight the brick cone with another cupola of timber and lead; and between this and the cone are easy stairs that ascend to the lantern" (Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren). The final design was strongly rooted in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. The saucer domes that were eventually added to the design were inspired by François Mansart
François Mansart
François Mansart was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France...
's Val-de-Grâce
Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the hospital and former abbey. For the main article on Mansart and Lemercier's central church, see Church of the Val-de-Grâce....
, which Wren had seen during a trip to Paris in 1665. The date of the laying of the first stone of the cathedral is disputed. One contemporary account says it was on 21 June 1675, another on 25 June and a third on 28 June. There is, however, general agreement that it was laid in June 1675. Edward Strong later claimed it was laid by his elder brother, Thomas Strong, one of the two master stonemasons appointed by Wren at the beginning of the work.
On 2 December 1697, thirty-two years and three months after a spark from Farryner's bakery had caused the Great Fire of London, St Paul's Cathedral came into use. The widower King William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
had been scheduled to appear but, uncomfortable in crowds and public displays, had bowed out at the last minute. The crowd of both the great and the small was so big, and their attitude towards William so indifferent, that he was scarcely missed. The Right Reverend Henry Compton, Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
122, "I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord." The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.
The "topping out" of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place in October 1708 and the cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day). In fact construction was to continue for several years after that, with the statues on the roof only being added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556 (£ as of ).
The consensus was as it is with all such works: some loved it ("Without, within, below, above the eye/ Is filled with unrestrained delight."); some hated it ("...There was an air of Popery about the gilded capitals, the heavy arches...They were unfamiliar, un-English.."); while most, once their curiosity was satisfied, didn't think about it one way or another.
- Sir Christopher Wren
- Said, "I am going to dine with some men.
- If anyone calls,
- Say I'm designing Saint Paul's."
-
- A clerihewClerihewA clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this :* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people...
by Edmund Clerihew BentleyEdmund Clerihew BentleyE. C. Bentley was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics...
- A clerihew
Structural engineering
Wren's challenge was to construct a large classical cathedral on the relatively weak clay soil of London. Settlement of the foundations caused major problems, forcing Wren to change his dome designs as the work progressed.The Warrant Design showed external buttresses on the ground floor level. These were not a classical feature and were one of the first elements Wren changed. Instead he made the walls of the cathedral particularly thick to avoid the need for external buttresses altogether. The windows are set into deep recesses in the walls. The upper parts of the cathedral walls are reinforced with small flying buttresses, which were added at a relatively late design change to give extra strength. These are concealed behind a large screen wall, which was added to keep the building's classical style intact.
The large crossing dome is composed of three layers: the first triple dome ever to be constructed. The inner and outer layers are catenary
Catenary
In physics and geometry, the catenary is the curve that an idealised hanging chain or cable assumes when supported at its ends and acted on only by its own weight. The curve is the graph of the hyperbolic cosine function, and has a U-like shape, superficially similar in appearance to a parabola...
curves, but the structural integrity to support the heavy stone structure atop the dome is provided by a intermediary layer which is much steeper and more conical
Cone (geometry)
A cone is an n-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a base to a point called the apex or vertex. Formally, it is the solid figure formed by the locus of all straight line segments that join the apex to the base...
in shape. The dome is restrained round its base by a wrought iron chain to prevent it spreading and cracking. Further iron chains are in stone bands at intervals in the brick cone and around the cornice of the peristyle.
Artists and craftsmen
The construction and decoration of the Cathedral involved many of the foremost artists and craftsmen in England; these were:- Sir James Thornhill – painted the eight monochrome paintings of the life of St PaulPaul of TarsusPaul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
that adorn the interior of the dome. Engravings of the paintings were published in 1720. - Grinling GibbonsGrinling GibbonsGrinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
– responsible for the woodwork, most notably the choir stalls, and sculpted the pediment of the north transept. - Jean TijouJean TijouJean Tijou was a French Huguenot ironworker. He is known solely through his work in England, where he worked on several of the key English Baroque buildings. He arrived in England in c.1689 and enjoyed the patronage of William and Mary for whom he made gates and railings for Hampton Court Palace....
– most of the wrought ironwork, including the gates flanking the high altarAltarAn altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
. - Bernard Smith – designed and built the organPipe organThe pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
. - Caius Gabriel CibberCaius Gabriel CibberCaius Gabriel Cibber was a Danish sculptor, who enjoyed great success in England, and was the father of the actor, author and poet laureate Colley Cibber. He was appointed "carver to the king's closet" by William III....
– sculpted the pediment of the south transept. - Francis BirdFrancis BirdFrancis Bird was one of the leading English sculptors of his time. He is mainly remembered for sculptures in Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral. He carved a tomb for the dramatist William Congreve in Westminster Abbey and sculptures of the apostles and evangelists on the exterior of St...
– sculpted the great west pediment showing the conversion of St Paul, plus the seven large sculptures on the west front.
Description
The cathedral is built of Portland stonePortland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
in a late Renaissance style that represents Wren's vision of a rationalised English Baroque. Its impressive dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
was inspired by St Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...
in Rome and Mansart
Mansart
Mansart may refer to:*François Mansart , French architect*Jules Hardouin Mansart , French architect, his grandnephew...
's Church of the Val-de-Grâce
Church of the Val-de-Grâce
This article describes the church of the Val-de-Grâce. For the surrounding hospital and former abbey, see Val-de-Grâce.The Church of the Val-de-Grâce is the church of a former royal abbey in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, in what is now the Val-de-Grâce Hospital. The dome of the church is a...
which Wren had visited. It rises 365 feet (108 m) to the cross at its summit, dominating both the historic and modern City of London through the Baroque device of axial perspectives or 'viewing corridors' across the cityscape. Wren achieved a pleasing balance between interior and exterior by constructing three domes nested one inside the other: the tall outer dome is non-structural and raised above the mass of the cathedral to suit distanced views; the lower inner dome provides a harmoniously balanced interior; between the two a structural cone supports the apex lantern and the outer dome. Wren was said to have been hauled up to the rafters in a basket during the building of its later stages to inspect progress.
The nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
has three small chapels in the two adjoining aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s – The Chapel of All Souls and The Chapel of St Dunstan in the north aisle and the Chapel of St Michael and St George in the south aisle. The main space of the cathedral is centred under the inner dome, which rises 108.4 metres from the cathedral floor and holds three circular galleries – the internal Whispering Gallery, the external Stone Gallery, and the external Golden Gallery.
The Whispering Gallery
Whispering gallery
A whispering gallery is a gallery beneath a dome, vault, or enclosed in a circular or elliptical area in which whispers can be heard clearly in other parts of the building....
runs around the inside of the dome 99 feet (30.2 m) above the cathedral floor. It is reached by 259 steps from ground level. It gets its name because of the acoustic effects peculiar to domes; a whisper against its wall at any point is audible to a listener with an ear held to the wall at any other point around the gallery. A low murmur is equally audible.
The base of the inner dome is 173 feet (53.4 m) above the floor. Its top is about 65 m above the floor, making this the greatest height of the enclosed space. The cathedral is some 574 feet (175 m) in length (including the portico of the Great West Door), of which 223 feet (68 m) is the nave and 167 feet (50.9 m) is the choir. The width of the nave is 121 feet (36.9 m) and across the transepts is 246 feet (75 m). The cathedral is thus slightly shorter but somewhat wider than Old St Paul's.
The quire
Quire (architecture)
Architecturally, the choir is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary . The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave...
extends to the east of the dome and holds the stalls for the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
and the choir and the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. To the north and south of the dome are the transepts, here called the North Choir and the South Choir.
Details of the towers at the west end (illustration, left) and their dark voids are boldly scaled, in order to read well from the street below and from a distance, for the towers have always stood out in the urban skyline. They are composed of two complementary elements, a central cylinder rising through the tiers in a series of stacked drums, and paired Corinthian columns
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
at the corners, with buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es above them, which serve to unify the drum shape with the square block plinth containing the clock. The main entablature breaks forward over the paired columns to express both elements, tying them together in a single horizontal band. The cap, like a bell-shaped miniature dome, supports a gilded finial, a pineapple supported on four scrolling angled brackets, the topmost expression of the consistent theme.
The north-west tower contains 13 bells hung for change ringing
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
while the south-west contains four, including Great Paul, at 16½ tons- the largest bell in the British Isles, cast in 1881, and Great Tom (the hour bell), recast twice, the last time by Richard Phelps
Richard Phelps (bell-founder)
Richard Phelps was born in Avebury, Wiltshire, England. Phelps was a bell-founder, or a maker of bells, primarily for churches. He was master of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London from 1701 to 1738, and is best known for his large bell, Great Tom, in the steeple of St Paul's Cathedral in...
, after being moved from St Stephen's Chapel at the Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
. The bell is only rung on occasions of a death in the royal family, the Bishop of London, or the Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
, although an exception was made at the death of US President James Garfield
James Garfield
James Abram Garfield served as the 20th President of the United States, after completing nine consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Garfield's accomplishments as President included a controversial resurgence of Presidential authority above Senatorial courtesy in executive...
.
In 1717, Richard Phelps cast two more bells that were added as "quarter jacks". Still in use today, the first weighs 13 long hundredweights (660.4 kg), is 41 inches (104.1 cm) in diameter and is tuned to A flat; the second weighs 35 long hundredweights (1,778.1 kg) and is 58 inches (147.3 cm) in diameter and is tuned to E flat.
| Bell | Weight | Nominal | Note | Diameter | Cast | Founder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8-1-4 | 1461.0 | F | 30.88" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 2 | 9-0-20 | 1270.0 | E♭ | 32.50" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 3 | 9-3-12 | 1199.0 | D | 34.00" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 4 | 11-2-22 | 1063.0 | C | 36.38" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 5 | 13-1-0 | 954.0 | B♭ | 38.63" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 6 | 13-2-14 | 884.0 | A | 39.63" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 7 | 16-1-18 | 784.0 | G | 43.75" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 8 | 21-3-18 | 705.0 | F | 47.63" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 9 | 27-1-22 | 636.0 | E♭ | 52.50" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 10 | 29-3-21 | 592.0 | D | 55.25" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 11 | 43-2-0 | 525.0 | C | 61.25" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| 12 | 61-2-12 | 468.0 | B♭ | 69.00" | 1878 | John Taylor & Co |
| Clock | 12-2-9 | A♭ | 1707 | Richard Phelps | ||
| Clock | 24-2-26 | E♭ | 1707 | Richard Phelps | ||
| Clock | 102-1-22 | A♭ | 82.88" | 1716 | Richard Phelps | |
| Bourdon | 334-2-19 | E♭ | 114.75" | 1881 | John Taylor & Co | |
| Communion | 18-2-26 | E♭ | 49.50" | 1700 | Philip Wightman |
Post-Wren history
This cathedral has survived despite being targeted during the BlitzThe Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
- it was struck by bombs on 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941. On 12 September 1940 a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a bomb disposal
Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
detachment of Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
under the command of Temporary Lieutenant Robert Davies
Robert Davies (GC)
Lieutenant Robert Davies distinguished himself during the Second World War with the Royal Engineers and was awarded the George Cross for the heroism he displayed in defusing a bomb which threatened to destroy St Paul's Cathedral on September 12, 1940.Davies was born in Newlyn, Cornwall, the son...
. Had this bomb detonated, it would have totally destroyed the cathedral, as it left a 100 feet (30.5 m) crater when it was later remotely detonated in a secure location. As a result of this action, Davies was awarded the George Cross
George Cross
The George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
, along with Sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
George Cameron Wylie
George Cameron Wylie
Sapper George Cameron Wylie GC of the Royal Engineers was awarded the George Cross for the heroism he displayed on 12 September 1940 when a bomb fell near St Paul's Cathedral in Deans Yard. It took three days to dig the bomb out of soft soil, work made even more dangerous by a fire at a...
.
Lisa Jardine
Lisa Jardine
Lisa Anne Jardine CBE , née Lisa Anne Bronowski, is a British historian of the early modern period. She is professor of Renaissance Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary, University of London, and is Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority...
of Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
has written:
Memorials
The cathedral has a very substantial crypt, holding over 200 memorials, and serves as both the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
Chapel and the Treasury. The cathedral has very few treasures: many have been lost, and in 1810 a major robbery took almost all of the remaining precious artefacts. Christopher Wren was the first person to be interred, in 1723: on the wall above his tomb in the crypt is written, "Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice" (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).
St Paul's is home to other plaques, carvings, statues, memorials
Church monument
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial or...
and tombs of famous British figures including:
- General Sir Isaac BrockIsaac BrockMajor-General Sir Isaac Brock KB was a British Army officer and administrator. Brock was assigned to Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he commanded his regiment in Upper Canada successfully for many years...
- Sir Edwin LutyensEdwin LutyensSir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
- John DonneJohn DonneJohn Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, whose funeral effigy (portraying him in a shroud) but not his tomb survives from Old St Paul's. - Lord KitchenerHerbert Kitchener, 1st Earl KitchenerField Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
- The Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
- Lord NelsonHoratio Nelson, 1st Viscount NelsonHoratio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
- Henry MooreHenry MooreHenry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
- Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron CollingwoodCuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron CollingwoodVice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as Nelson's successor in commands.-Early years:Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne...
- Sir William Alexander SmithWilliam Alexander Smith (Boys' Brigade)Sir William Alexander Smith , the founder of the Boys' Brigade, was born in Pennyland House, Thurso, Scotland. He was the eldest son of Major David Smith and his wife Harriet...
- Sir Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
- T. E. LawrenceT. E. LawrenceLieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, whose bustBust (sculpture)A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
faces Nelson's sarcophagusSarcophagusA sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos... - Sir Alexander FlemingAlexander FlemingSir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy...
- Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount WolseleyGarnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount WolseleyField Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign and the Nile Expedition...
- Sir Philip VianPhilip VianAdmiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, GCB, KBE, DSO & Two Bars was a British naval officer who served in both World Wars....
- John Jellicoe, 1st Earl JellicoeJohn Jellicoe, 1st Earl JellicoeAdmiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
- David Beatty, 1st Earl BeattyDavid Beatty, 1st Earl BeattyAdmiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
- Sir Arthur SullivanArthur SullivanSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
- Sir Lawrence Alma-TademaLawrence Alma-TademaLawrence Alma-Tadema, OM, RA was a Dutch painter.Born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there...
- Sir Hubert ParryHubert ParrySir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet was an English composer, teacher and historian of music.Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is best known for the choral song "Jerusalem", the coronation anthem "I was glad" and the hymn tune "Repton", which sets the words...
- Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
- J. M. W. TurnerJ. M. W. TurnerJoseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
- Sir Joshua ReynoldsJoshua ReynoldsSir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
- Dr. Samuel JohnsonSamuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
- Ivor NovelloIvor NovelloDavid Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
- Charles Cornwallis
- Frederick George JacksonFrederick George JacksonFrederick George Jackson , British Arctic explorer, was educated at Denstone College and Edinburgh University.-Biography:...
- Mandell CreightonMandell CreightonMandell Creighton , was a British historian and a bishop of the Church of England. A scholar of the Renaissance papacy, Creighton was the first occupant of the Dixie Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Cambridge, a professorship that was established around the time that the study...
and Louise CreightonLouise CreightonLouise Hume Creighton, née von Glehn was a British author of books on historical and socio-political topics and an activist for greater role of women both within society and within the Church of England. In 1872, she married Mandell Creighton, later a historian and bishop in the Church of... - Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of FleetRoy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of FleetRoy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet GBE was a Canadian newspaper proprietor and media entrepreneur.-Career:...
Most of the memorials commemorate the British military, including several lists of servicemen who died in action, the most recent being the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. There are special monuments to Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
in the south transept and to the Duke of Wellington in the north aisle; both are buried here. Also remembered are poets, painters, clergy and residents of the local parish. There are lists of the Bishops
Bishop of London
The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
and cathedral Deans for the last thousand years.
The cathedral has been the site of many famous funerals, including those of Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and George Mallory
George Mallory
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s....
.
Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
is set to have a state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
at the cathedral upon her death.
American Memorial Chapel
The apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
of the cathedral is home to the American Memorial Chapel. It honours American servicemen and women who died in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and was dedicated in 1958. It was paid for entirely by donations from British people, and was designed, as a modern exercise in the Wren style, by Godfrey Allen and Stephen Dykes Bower
Stephen Dykes Bower
Stephen Ernest Dykes Bower was a British church architect and Gothic Revival designer best known for his work at Westminster Abbey.-Early life and education:...
. The Roll of Honour contains the names of more than 28,000 Americans who gave their lives while on their way to, or stationed in, the United Kingdom during the Second World War. It is in front of the chapel's altar. The three chapel windows date from 1960; they feature themes of service and sacrifice, while the insignia around the edges represent the American states and the US armed forces. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket – a tribute to America's achievements in space
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
.
St Paul's Cathedral Arts Project
The St Paul’s Cathedral Arts Project is an ongoing programme which seeks to explore the encounter between artArt
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
. Projects have included installations by Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley
Antony Mark David Gormley OBE RA is a British sculptor. His best known works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in the North of England, commissioned in 1995 and erected in February 1998, Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool, and Event Horizon, a multi-part site...
, Rebecca Horn
Rebecca Horn
Rebecca Horn is a German installation artist and film director most famous for her body modifications such as Einhorn , a body-suit with a very large horn projecting vertically from the headpiece, and Pencil Mask, a mesh harness for the head with many pencils projecting out...
, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
and Martin Firrell
Martin Firrell
Martin Firrell has been described variously as a cultural activist, a campaigner, a public artist, or benevolent provocateur, stimulating debate in public space to promote positive social change....
.
Internationally acclaimed artist Bill Viola
Bill Viola
Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist. He is considered a leading figure in the generation of artists whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in New Media...
has been commissioned to create two altarpieces for permanent display in St Paul's Cathedral. The project commenced production in mid 2009 with completion in early 2012. Following the extensive programme of cleaning and repair of the interior of St Paul's, completed in 2005, Bill Viola has been commissioned to create two altarpieces on the themes of Mary and Martyrs. These two multi-screen video installations will be permanently located at the end of the Quire aisles, flanking the High Altar of the Cathedral and the American Memorial Chapel where US Service men and women who gave their lives in the Second World War are commemorated. Each work will employ an arrangement of multiple plasma screen panels configured in a manner similar to historic altarpieces. The screens will be mounted on hinged panels, allowing them to be closed.
In Summer 2010, St Paul's chose two new works by the British artist Mark Alexander to be hung either side of the nave. Both entitled Red Mannheim, Alexander's large red silkscreens are inspired by the Mannheim Cathedral altarpiece (1739–41), which was damaged by bombing in the Second World War. The original sculpture depicts Christ on the cross, surrounded by a familiar retinue of mourners. Rendered in splendid giltwood, with Christ's wracked body sculpted in relief, and the flourishes of flora and incandescent rays from heaven, this masterpiece of the German Rococo is an object of ravishing beauty and intense piety.
In March 2010, Flare II, a sculpture by Antony Gormley, was installed in the dramatic setting of the Geometric Staircase.
In 2007, Dean and Chapter commissioned public artist Martin Firrell to create a major public artwork to mark the 300th anniversary of the topping-out of Wren's building. The Question Mark Inside consisted of digital text projections to the cathedral dome, West Front and inside onto the Whispering Gallery. The text was based on blog contributions by the general public as well as interviews conducted by the artist and the artist's own views. The project presented a stream of possible answers to the question: 'what makes life meaningful and purposeful, and what does St Paul's mean in that contemporary context?' The Question Mark Inside opened on 8 November 2008 and ran for eight nights.
A 15 year restoration project – one of the largest ever undertaken in the UK – was completed on 15 June 2011.
Interpretation Project
The Interpretation Project is a long term project concerned with bringing St Paul’s to life for all its visitors.In 2010, the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's opened Oculus: an eye into St Paul's. Oculus is a 270° film experience that brings 1400 years of history to life. Located in the atmospheric former Treasury in the crypt, Oculus takes visitors on a journey through the history and daily life of St Paul's Cathedral. Oculus was funded by American Express Company in partnership with the World Monuments Fund, J. P . Morgan, the Garfield Weston Trust for St Paul’s Cathedral, the City of London Endowment Trust and AIG.
In 2010, new touchscreen multimedia guides were also launched. These guides are included in the price of admission. Visitors can discover the cathedral’s history, architecture and daily life of a busy working church with these new multimedia guides. They are available in 12 different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and British Sign Language (BSL). The guides have fly-through videos of the dome galleries and zoomable close-ups of breathtaking ceiling mosaics, painting and photography. Interviews and commentary from experts include the Dean of St Paul’s, conservation team and the Director of Music. Archive film footage includes major services and events from the cathedral's history.
Charges for sightseers
Unlike almost all other cathedrals, St Paul’s imposes a £14.50 charge for admission to sightseers, without the option of a donation. Those attending services do so at no cost. People seeking a place to be quiet and pray are admitted to the St Dunstan's Chapel free of charge. Admission on Sundays for all services is free and there is no sightseeing. The cathedral explains that St Paul's receives little regular or significant funding from the Crown, Church or the State and claims to rely on the income generated by tourism to allow the building to continue to function as a centre for Christian worship, as well as to cover general maintenance and repair work.The finances of the cathedral came under public scrutiny during the anti-capitalism Occupy London
Occupy London
Occupy London is an ongoing peaceful protest and demonstration against economic inequality, the lack of affordability of housing in the United Kingdom, social injustice, corporate greed and the influence of companies and lobbyists on government taking place in London, United Kingdom, which started...
encampment in front of the cathedral which began in October 2011. Canon Chancellor Giles Fraser
Giles Fraser
Giles Anthony Fraser is a priest of the Church of England. He was Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral from 2009 until his resignation in October 2011. As Canon Chancellor, Fraser fulfilled the role of a canon residentiary with special responsibility for contemporary ethics and engagement with...
resigned, warning that to evict the anti-capitalist activists would constitute “violence in the name of the Church". It was claimed that the cathedral was losing revenue of £20,000 per day.
Organ
The organ was commissioned in 1694: the current instrument is the third-biggest in Britain with 5 manuals, 189 ranks of pipesOrgan pipe
An organ pipe is a sound-producing element of the pipe organ that resonates at a specific pitch when pressurized air is driven through it. Each pipe is tuned to a specific note of the musical scale...
and 108 stops
Organ stop
An organ stop is a component of a pipe organ that admits pressurized air to a set of organ pipes. Its name comes from the fact that stops can be used selectively by the organist; some can be "on" , while others can be "off" .The term can also refer...
, enclosed in an impressive case by Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons
Grinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
.
Details of the organ from the National Pipe Organ Register
Organists and directors of music
- c.1525–1547 John RedfordJohn RedfordJohn Redford was a major English composer and organist of the Tudor period.From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral and choirmaster there from 1534. Many of his works are represented in the Mulliner Book...
(also Almoner) - 1547 Philip ap Rhys (until c.1559)
- 1573 Henry Mudd
- 1587? – 1592? Thomas MorleyThomas MorleyThomas Morley was an English composer, theorist, editor and organist of the Renaissance, and the foremost member of the English Madrigal School. He was the most famous composer of secular music in Elizabethan England and an organist at St Paul's Cathedral...
- 1598 Thomas Harrold
- 1619 John Tomkins
- 1638–1642 Albertus BryneAlbertus BryneAlbertus Bryne was an English organist and composer.-Biography:His teacher was John Tomkins, organist of St Paul's Cathedral, a role in which he succeeded his teacher in 1638. He was dismissed from the post by the Puritans and, during the Commonwealth, taught the harpsichord...
- 1660–1668 Albertus BryneAlbertus BryneAlbertus Bryne was an English organist and composer.-Biography:His teacher was John Tomkins, organist of St Paul's Cathedral, a role in which he succeeded his teacher in 1638. He was dismissed from the post by the Puritans and, during the Commonwealth, taught the harpsichord...
- 1687 Isaac BlackwellIsaac BlackwellIsaac Blackwell was a composer and English Cathedral organist, who served at St. Paul's Cathedral.-Background:His compositions are not well known.Amongst his madrigal output are:*“Give me thy youth”*I saw fair Cloris walk alone....
- 1699 Jeremiah ClarkeJeremiah ClarkeJeremiah Clarke was an English baroque composer and organist.Thought to have been born in London around 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal...
(also Almoner 1704-7) - 1707 Richard BrindRichard BrindRichard Brind was an English organist and minor composer of the 17th century.-Biography:Born in England, possibly in London, in the 1670s or 1680s, Brind was a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral as boy and young teenager. While there he sang under the directorship of John Blow and Jeremiah Clarke...
- 1718 Maurice GreeneMaurice Greene (composer)Maurice Greene was an English composer and organist.- Biography :Born in London, the son of a clergyman, Greene became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King...
- 1756 John JonesJohn Jones (organist)John Jones was an English organist, who served at the St Paul's Cathedral.-Background:He was a chorister of St. Paul's Cathedral under Maurice Greene....
- 1796 Thomas AttwoodThomas Attwood (composer)Thomas Attwood was an English composer and organist.The son of a musician in the royal band, Attwood was born in London. At the age of nine he became a chorister in the Chapel Royal. In 1783 he was sent to study abroad at the expense of the Prince of Wales , who had been favourably impressed by...
- 1838 Sir John Goss
- 1872 Sir John StainerJohn StainerSir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
- 1888 Sir George Clement MartinGeorge Clement MartinSir George Clement Martin MVO was an English organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral.-Background:He was born in Lambourn, Berkshire on 11 September 1844. Footman's "History of Lambourn Church" describes him as "the only famous man to come from Lambourne"...
- 1916 Charles MacphersonCharles MacphersonCharles Macpherson FRAM was a Scottish organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral. He was born in Edinburgh on 10 May 1870. His father was Burgh Architect. At the age of nine he became a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral, later studying music at the Royal Academy of Music...
- 1927 Sir Stanley MarchantStanley MarchantSir Stanley Marchant was an English organist and composer, associated with St Paul's Cathedral, where he was second assistant from 1903 and organist from 1927, until he became principal of the Royal Academy of Music in 1936.His best-known composition, "The Souls of the Righteous", is included in...
- 1936 Sir John Dykes BowerJohn Dykes BowerSir John Dykes Bower CVO was an English cathedral organist, who served in Truro Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral-Background:John Dykes Bower was born on 13 August 1905 in Gloucester. He was one of four brothers...
- 1968 Christopher DearnleyChristopher Hugh DearnleyChristopher Hugh Dearnley was an English cathedral organist, who served in Salisbury Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral-Background:Christopher Hugh Dearnley was born on 11 February 1930 in Wolverhampton...
- 1990 John ScottJohn Scott (organist)John Gavin Scott LVO is an English-born organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church on 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City...
(Organist & Director of Music) - 2004 Malcolm ArcherMalcolm ArcherMalcolm Archer is an English organist, conductor and composer. He combines this work with a recital career. Archer was formerly Organist and Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral, and is now Director of Chapel Music at Winchester College....
- 2007 Andrew CarwoodAndrew CarwoodAndrew Carwood is the Director of Music at St Paul's Cathedral in London and director of his own group, The Cardinall's Musick.-Biography:He was educated at The John Lyon School, Harrow and was a choral scholar in the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge under Dr George Guest, a lay clerk at...
(Director of Music)
Sub-organists and assistant organists
- George Cooper (father) 1???-1838
- George CooperGeorge Cooper (organist)George Cooper was an English organist and music educator. Born in Lambeth, Cooper was the son of organist George Cooper, Sr. He succeeded his father as assistant organist at St Paul's Cathedral in 1838; having already substituted for his father periodically since 1831...
(son) 1838–1876 (also Organist HM Chapel RoyalChapel RoyalA Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
) - George Clement MartinGeorge Clement MartinSir George Clement Martin MVO was an English organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral.-Background:He was born in Lambourn, Berkshire on 11 September 1844. Footman's "History of Lambourn Church" describes him as "the only famous man to come from Lambourne"...
1876–1888 (subsequently Organist) - William Hodge 1888–1895
- Charles MacphersonCharles MacphersonCharles Macpherson FRAM was a Scottish organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral. He was born in Edinburgh on 10 May 1870. His father was Burgh Architect. At the age of nine he became a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral, later studying music at the Royal Academy of Music...
1895–1916 (subsequently Organist) - Stanley MarchantStanley MarchantSir Stanley Marchant was an English organist and composer, associated with St Paul's Cathedral, where he was second assistant from 1903 and organist from 1927, until he became principal of the Royal Academy of Music in 1936.His best-known composition, "The Souls of the Righteous", is included in...
1916–1927 (subsequently Organist) - Douglas Edward HopkinsDouglas Edward HopkinsDouglas Edward Hopkins was an cathedral organist, who served at Peterborough Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral.-Background:Douglas Edward Hopkins was born on 23 December 1902 in London....
1927–1946 (subsequently Organist Peterborough CathedralPeterborough CathedralPeterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...
; later Organist Canterbury CathedralCanterbury CathedralCanterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
) - Harry GabbHarry GabbHarry Gabb CVO was an English organist, who served at Llandaff Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral and the Chapel Royal.-Background: Harry Gabb was born in Ilford, Essex on 5 April 1909...
1946–1974 (also Organist, Choirmaster & Composer HM Chapel RoyalChapel RoyalA Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
) - Barry RoseBarry RoseBarry Michael Rose is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for conducting the choir of St Paul's Cathedral at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981.-Biography:Born in Chingford, England, Rose grew up...
1974–1984 (Master of the Choir 1977–1984; later Master of Music St Albans Abbey) - John ScottJohn Scott (organist)John Gavin Scott LVO is an English-born organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church on 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City...
1985–1990 (subsequently Organist and Director of Music; now Director of Music St Thomas, Fifth Avenue) - Andrew Lucas 1990–1998 (now Master of Music, St Albans Abbey)
- Huw Williams 1998–2008 (now Sub Organist, HM Chapel RoyalChapel RoyalA Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
)
In 2007 the posts of Organist and Director of Music were separated, the Sub-Organist post being re-titled Organist & Assistant Director of Music in September 2008.
- Simon Johnson 2008 (September) – present
Assistant sub-organists and sub-organists
- Gerald Wheeler 1953–1956
- Derek HolmanDerek HolmanDerek Holman, CM is a choral conductor, organist, and composer.Holman attended the Royal Academy of Music from 1948 to 1952 and studied with Sir William McKie, Eric Thiman, and York Bowen...
1956–1958 - Richard PopplewellRichard PopplewellRichard Popplewell LVO is an English organist and composer who served at the Chapel Royal.-Background:He was born in Halifax, Yorkshire on 18 October 1935...
1958–1966 (subsequently Organist, Choirmaster & Composer HM Chapel RoyalChapel RoyalA Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
) - Timothy Farrell 1966–1967 (subsequently Organist, Choirmaster & Composer HM Chapel RoyalChapel RoyalA Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...
) - Christopher HerrickChristopher Herrick-Early life:Born in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Christopher Herrick was a boy chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and attended its choir school; he sang at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and later that year went with the choir on a three-month tour of America which included a private...
1967–1978 (subsequently Sub-Organist Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
) - John ScottJohn Scott (organist)John Gavin Scott LVO is an English-born organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church on 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City...
1978–1985 (simultaneously held post of Assistant Organist Southwark CathedralSouthwark CathedralSouthwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....
; subsequently Sub-Organist) - Andrew Lucas 1985–1990 (subsequently Sub-Organist)
- Martin BakerMartin Baker (organist)Martin Baker is currently Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral, a position he has held since 2000.Martin Baker was educated at the Royal Northern College of Music Junior School, Chetham's School of Music, St Ambrose College, Hale Barns, and Downing College, Cambridge, where he was Organ...
1990–1991 (later Sub-Organist & Acting Organist Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
; now Master of Music Westminster CathedralWestminster CathedralWestminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
) - Richard Moorhouse 1992–2000 (now Organist & Master of the Choristers Llandaff CathedralLlandaff CathedralLlandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is situated in the district of Llandaff in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The current building was constructed in the 12th century over the site of an earlier church...
) - Mark Williams 2000–2006 (now Director of Music Jesus College, CambridgeJesus College, CambridgeJesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The College was founded in 1496 on the site of a Benedictine nunnery by John Alcock, then Bishop of Ely...
) - Tom Winpenny 2006–2008 (now Assistant Master of Music St Albans Abbey)
In 2007 the posts of Organist and Director of Music were separated, the Assistant Sub-Organist post being re-titled Sub-Organist in April 2008.
- Timothy Wakerell 2008–present
Almoners and masters of the choristers
- Thomas Hickman ? – 1534
- John RedfordJohn RedfordJohn Redford was a major English composer and organist of the Tudor period.From about 1525 he was organist at St Paul's Cathedral and choirmaster there from 1534. Many of his works are represented in the Mulliner Book...
?1534–1547 (also Organist) - Sebastian WestcoteSebastian WestcottSebastian Westcott was an English organist at St. Paul's Cathedral. He is especially known for staging performances of plays with the Children of Paul's.-Life:...
1554–1582 (Vicar Choral) - Thomas Giles 1584–1600
- Edward Pearce 1599–1612
- John Gibbs 1613–1624
- Martin PeersonMartin PeersonMartin Peerson was an English composer, organist and virginalist...
1626–1642 - Randall Jewett 1661–1675
- Michael WiseMichael WiseMichael Wise was an English organist and composer. He sang as a child in the choir of the Chapel Royal and served as a countertenor in St George's Chapel, Windsor from 1666 until, in 1668, he was appointed Organist and Choirmaster at Salisbury Cathedral...
1687 - John BlowJohn BlowJohn Blow was an English Baroque composer and organist, appointed to Westminster Abbey in 1669. His pupils included William Croft, Jeremiah Clarke and Henry Purcell. In 1685 he was named a private musician to James II. His only stage composition, Venus and Adonis John Blow (baptised 23 February...
1687–1703 - Jeremiah ClarkeJeremiah ClarkeJeremiah Clarke was an English baroque composer and organist.Thought to have been born in London around 1674, Clarke was a pupil of John Blow at St Paul's Cathedral. He later became organist at the Chapel Royal...
1704–1707 (also Organist) - Charles KingCharles King (composer)Charles King was an English composer and musician of the 17th and 18th centuries who at one time held the post of Almoner and Master of Choristers for St. Paul's Cathedral under John Blow and Jeremiah Clarke.-Biography:...
1707–1748 (Vicar Choral) - William SavageWilliam SavageWilliam Savage was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass...
1748–1773 (Vicar Choral)
- Robert Hudson 1773–1793 (Vicar Choral)
- Richard Bellamy 1793–1800 (Vicar Choral)
- John Sale 1800–1812 (Vicar Choral)
- William HawesWilliam HawesWilliam Hawes , English musician, was born in London, and was for eight years a chorister of the Chapel Royal, where he studied music chiefly under Dr Ayrton....
1812–1846
The title of Almoner then passed to one of the Minor Canons
College of Minor Canons
The Minor Canons of St Paul's Cathedral, London, whose origins predate the Norman conquest of England, unusually were independent of the senior canons and, as priests, of higher status than the lay vicars choral. Medieval Hereford furnishes the only other example of such a structure...
, while the post of Master of the Choristers was held by a succession of Vicars Choral, including –
- Fred Walker 1867–1874 (Vicar Choral)
until –
- George Clement MartinGeorge Clement MartinSir George Clement Martin MVO was an English organist, who served at St Paul's Cathedral.-Background:He was born in Lambourn, Berkshire on 11 September 1844. Footman's "History of Lambourn Church" describes him as "the only famous man to come from Lambourne"...
1874–1876 (subsequently Sub-Organist & then Organist)
The training of the choristers was then entrusted to the Organist & his deputies until –
- Barry RoseBarry RoseBarry Michael Rose is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for conducting the choir of St Paul's Cathedral at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981.-Biography:Born in Chingford, England, Rose grew up...
1977–1984 (Master of the Choir)
The post was re-united with that of Organist under John Scott in 1990
Organ scholars
- John Dexter 1975 (Organist and Master of the Choristers at St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin 1977–2001)
- Ian Sadler 1978
- Gareth Green
- Martin Cooke
- Mark Blatchly (now Organist Charterhouse SchoolCharterhouse SchoolCharterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
) - Andrew Lucas 1980–1984 (subsequently Assistant Sub-Organist)
- Simon LoleSimon LoleSimon Lole is well known as a choral director, organist, composer, arranger and broadcaster. He was organist of Barking Parish Church , Croydon Parish Church , Director of Music at St...
1979–1982 (later Organist & Director of Music Sheffield CathedralSheffield CathedralSheffield Cathedral is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914...
& then Salisbury CathedralSalisbury CathedralSalisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
) - Andrew Shenton (now Associate Professor of Music at Boston UniversityBoston UniversityBoston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
) - Roger Sayer (now Organist Rochester CathedralRochester CathedralRochester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Norman church in Rochester, Kent. The bishopric is second oldest in England after Canterbury...
) - Lee WardLee WardLee Ward BMus ARCO is a British organist, conductor and teacher.He first studied the organ with Ian Tracey at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and was appointed Assistant Organist at Chester Cathedral at eighteen years of age....
1989 (now Director of Music London Oratory SchoolLondon Oratory SchoolThe London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
& Director of Music Hampstead Parish ChurchSt John-at-HampsteadSt John-at-Hampstead is a Church of England church dedicated to St John the Evangelist in Church Row, Hampstead, London.-History:...
) - David Whitehead 1990
- Fraser Simpson 1992
- Huw Williams 1993 (later Sub-Organist)
- Stuart Nicholson (now Organist & Master of the Choristers St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin)
- Lionel Steuart Fothringham (now Director of Music Highgate SchoolHighgate School-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
) - Simon Johnson 1997 (subsequently Assistant Master of the Music St Albans Abbey; now Organist & Assistant Director of Music)
- Benjamin Nicholas 1998 (now Director Tewkesbury AbbeyTewkesbury AbbeyThe Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...
Schola Cantorum & Director of Music Merton College, OxfordMerton College, OxfordMerton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
) - Nicholas Chalmers 2000 (now Assistant Chorus Master English National OperaEnglish National OperaEnglish National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
) - Thomas Corns 2001 (now Organist St Mary's WarwickCollegiate Church of St Mary, WarwickThe Collegiate Church of St Mary is a Church of England parish church in the town of Warwick, England. It lies in the centre of the town just east of the market place. It is a member of the Greater Churches Group....
) - Duncan Ferguson 2003 (now Organist & Master of the Music St Mary's, EdinburghSt Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh (Episcopal)St Mary's Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built in the late 19th century in the West End of Edinburgh's New Town. The cathedral is the see of the Bishop of Edinburgh, one of seven bishops...
) - James Kennerly 2005 (now Associate Director of Music Christ Church, Greenwich, Connecticut)
- James McVinnie 2006 (now Assistant Organist Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
) - Tim Harper 2008 (Assistant Director of Music Birmingham CathedralSt Philip's Cathedral, BirminghamThe Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Birmingham in the West Midlands in 1905...
) - Donald Hunt 2010
- Simon Hogan (from July 2011)
Some notable choristers and vicars choral
16th century- William Mundy (Vicar Choral), composer.
- Peter PhilipsPeter PhilipsPeter Philips was an eminent English composer, organist, and Catholic priest exiled to Flanders...
(chorister), composer.
17th century
- Adrian BattenAdrian BattenAdrian Batten was an English organist and Anglican church composer. He was active during an important period of English church music, between the Reformation and the Civil War in the 1640s. During this period the liturgical music of the first generations of Anglicans began to diverge significantly...
(Vicar Choral), composer.
18th century
- Jonathan BattishillJonathan BattishillJonathan Battishill was an English composer, keyboard player, and concert tenor. He began his career as a composer writing theatre music but later devoted himself to working as an organist and composer for the Church of England...
(chorister), composer. - William Boyce (chorister), composer.
- Maurice GreeneMaurice Greene (composer)Maurice Greene was an English composer and organist.- Biography :Born in London, the son of a clergyman, Greene became a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral under Jeremiah Clarke and Charles King...
(chorister), composer and Organist of St Paul's Cathedral.
19th century
- William CummingsWilliam Hayman CummingsWilliam Hayman Cummings , born in Sidbury in Devon, was an English musician, tenor and organist at Waltham Abbey....
(chorister), composer and organist. - John StainerJohn StainerSir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
(chorister), Organist of St Paul's Cathedral and Professor of Music at Oxford University.
20th century
- Simon Russell BealeSimon Russell BealeSimon Russell Beale, CBE is an English actor. He has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation."-Early years:...
(chorister), actor. - Alastair CookAlastair CookAlastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
(chorister), cricketer. - Alfred DellerAlfred DellerAlfred George Deller CBE , was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularizing the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th Century....
(Vicar Choral), counter-tenor. - Jimmy EdwardsJimmy EdwardsJimmy Edwards DFC was an English comedic script writer and comedy actor on both radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in Take It From Here and as the headmaster 'Professor' James Edwards in Whack-O!-Biography:...
(chorister), actor. - Gerald EnglishGerald EnglishGerald English is an English-born Australian-resident tenor. He has performed operatic and concert repertoire, is a recording artist, and has been an academic....
(Vicar Choral), tenor. - Charles GrovesCharles GrovesSir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors....
(chorister), conductor. - Paul HillierPaul HillierPaul Douglas Hillier is a conductor, music director and baritone. He specializes in early music and contemporary art music, especially that by composers Steve Reich and Arvo Pärt. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford and the Guildhall School of Music, beginning his professional career while a...
(Vicar Choral), conductor. - Robin HollowayRobin HollowayRobin Greville Holloway is an English composer.-Early life:From 1952 to 1957, he was a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral...
(chorister), composer. - Neil HowlettNeil HowlettNeil Howlett is a retired English operatic baritone who has sung leading roles in major opera houses and festivals in the UK and abroad, including the Royal Opera House, Teatro Colón, and the English National Opera, where he was the Principal Baritone for seventeen years...
(chorister), opera singer and teacher. - James LancelotJames LancelotJames Bennett Lancelot is currently Master of the Choristers and Cathedral Organist at Durham Cathedral, a position he has held since 1985....
(chorister), Organist of Durham CathedralDurham CathedralThe Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
. - Walter de la MareWalter de la MareWalter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
(chorister), poet and novelist. - Stephen Oliver (chorister), composer.
- Julian OvendenJulian OvendenJulian Ovenden is an English stage, television and film actor and singer. He is one of three children of Canon John Ovenden, chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II....
(chorister), actor and singer. - John Shirley-QuirkJohn Shirley-QuirkJohn Shirley-Quirk CBE is an English bass-baritone.He was born in Liverpool, England, and sang in his high school choir. He played the violin and was awarded a scholarship. While studying chemistry and physics at Liverpool University, he studied voice with Austen Carnegie...
(Vicar Choral), bass-baritone. - Robert TearRobert TearRobert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
(Vicar Choral), tenor and conductor. - Anthony WayAnthony WayAnthony Way is an English chorister and classical singer who shot to fame after appearing as a chorister in a BBC TV series. He has since had success as a recording artist, with gold and platinum discs to his credit.-Biography:...
(chorister), treble.
Filming
Films and TV programmes made at St Paul's Cathedral include:- Climbing Great BuildingsClimbing Great BuildingsClimbing Great Buildings is a British television series made for the BBC. The series, first broadcast on BBC Two in autumn 2010, consists of fifteen half-hour programmes each featuring one famous British structure from the last 1000 years....
(2010) - Industrial RevelationsIndustrial RevelationsIndustrial Revelations is a Documentary show showing the connections between related industrial advances. The show's presenter has changed several times since the first series in 2002 hosted by Mark Williams.-Episode guide:...
: Best of British Engineering – Buildings, with Rory McGrathRory McGrathPatrick Rory McGrath is an English comedian and writer. He is best known for roles in Who Dares Wins, Chelmsford 123, Three Men in a Boat and its successors. He was also a regular panellist on They Think It's All Over....
series 5, episode 1, 2008, features St Paul's Cathedral. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling. The book was published on 8 July 1999. The novel won the 1999 Whitbread Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the 2000 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, and was short-listed for other...
shows the Geometric Staircase in the South West Bell Tower. - The Madness of King GeorgeThe Madness of King GeorgeThe Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
shows the Geometric Staircase in the South West Bell Tower. - Mary PoppinsMary PoppinsMary Poppins is a series of children's books written by P. L. Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. The books centre on a magical English nanny, Mary Poppins. She is blown by the East wind to Number Seventeen Cherry Tree Lane, London and into the Banks' household to care for their...
shows the front and outside of the Cathedral, though it shows the space from the missing clock, when that was caused by bombing during World War II, 30 years after the film was set.
Interior view
See also
:Category:Bishops of London:Category:Burials at St Paul's Cathedral
:Category:Deans of St Paul's
- List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom
- List of churches and cathedrals of London
- St Paul's Cathedral SchoolSt Paul's Cathedral SchoolSt. Paul's Cathedral School is a school associated with St Paul's Cathedral in London and is located in New Change in the City of London.The School has around 220 pupils, most of whom are day pupils, both boys and girls, including up to 40 boy choristers who are all boarders and who singing the...
- Paternoster SquarePaternoster SquarePaternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate Co., next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, England. In 1942 the area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated by aerial bombardment in The Blitz during...
- Tall buildings in London
- The Light of the World (painting)
- Cyril RaikesCyril RaikesCyril Probyn Napier Raikes was awarded the Military Cross in the 1st World War Mesopotamian Campaign flying in the British army's Royal Engineers monitoring the oil pipelines there. He had previously fought in the Boer War....
(fire watching on the dome of St Paul's in the 2nd World War)
External links
- St Paul's Cathedral official website
- A Popular Description of St. Paul's Cathedral By Maria Hackett, published 1828, 87 pages.
- Biographical Illustrations of St. Paul's Cathedral By George Lewis Smyth, published 1843, 284 pages.
- St Paul's Cathedral by Canaletto (painting)
- Wren's various designs
- St Paul's Cathedral Photo Gallery — 125 photos
- Old St Paul's Cathedral by William Benham – eText from Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- S.E. Kelly, editor, 2004. Charters of St Paul's, London in series Anglo-Saxon Charters (Oxford University Press) http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-726299-6
- The 'Registrum Statutorum..' of St Paul's – collected charters and other documents from the earliest years until the nineteenth century. Published by the cathedral in 1873, Latin and English.
- BBC News account of the bombing
- Bells of St Paul's
- A history of the choristers of St Paul's Cathedral
- Mystery Worshipper Report at the Ship of Fools websiteShip of Fools (website)Ship of Fools is a UK-based Christian website. It was first launched as a magazine in 1977. The magazine folded in 1983 and was resurrected as a website on April Fool's Day, 1998. Subtitled "the magazine of Christian unrest", Ship of Fools pokes fun and asks critical questions about the Christian...
- Central London live webcam showing St Paul's, Westminster and Big Ben
- The Chapel of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – OBE Chapel
- St Paul's lithographs c. 1647–1817
- The Jubilee Cope commissioned for the Bishop of London by St Paul’s Cathedral in honour of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II http://www.ukexpert.co.uk/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=9766&http://www.ukexpert.co.uk/photopost/showfull.php?photo=9766.
