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St Paul'due south Cathedral

Introduction

The majestic St Paul's Cathedral , London, is a Church of England and seat of the Bishop of London. St. Paul'south Cathedral was congenital betwixt 1675 and 1711. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates dorsum to the original church building on this site, founded in Advertizement 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest indicate in the City of London, and is the mother church building of the Diocese of London. The nowadays church dating from the belatedly 17th century was built to an English Baroque design of Sir Christopher Wren , equally part of a major rebuilding plan which took identify in the city after the Neat Burn of London, and was completed within his lifetime.

The cathedral is one of the about famous and well-nigh recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed past the spires of Wren'south Metropolis churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years. At 365 feet (111 m) high, information technology was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of expanse, St Paul'south is the second largest church building building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral.

St Paul's Cathedral occupies a pregnant place in the national identity of the English population. It is the central subject field of much promotional material, every bit well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the fume and fire of the Blitz. Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Knuckles of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marker the terminate of the Outset and Second World Wars; the matrimony 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 Two. St Paul'due south Cathedral is a decorated working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.

History

St Paul's Cathedral has had an eventful history. Five different churches were built at this site. The start church building, dedicated to the apostle Paul, dates back to 604 Advertisement, when King Ethelbert of Kent built a wooden church building on the peak of one of London's hills for Mellitus, Bishop of the East Saxons. At the end of the seventh century, the church building was congenital in stone by Erkenwald, Bishop of London.
In 962 and once again in 1087, the cathedral was destroyed by fire, but each fourth dimension it was rebuilt and expanded. By that time, it had become ane of the largest cathedrals in Europe. Renovations and extensions in the 13th and 14th century enlarged the cathedral even more.

Old St Paul'south prior to 1561

The 4th St Paul's, known when architectural history arose in the 19th century as Old St Paul's , was begun past the Normans subsequently the 1087 burn down. Work took over 200 years and a bully deal was lost in a burn down 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 ane of Europe'due south tallest spires, at some 489 feet (149 thou). Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (thirty m) wide (290 feet or 87 thou across the transepts and crossing).

By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry Eight and Edward VI, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and other buildings in St Paul's Churchyard. Many of these quondam 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 oft supplied gear up-dressed edifice material for structure projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House.

Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul'south 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'south displeasure at the other faction's actions.

England's first classical builder, Inigo Jones, added the cathedral's west front in the 1630s, just there was much defacing mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, when the former documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed (Kelly 2004). «One-time St Paul's» was gutted in the Great Fire of London of 1666. While it might accept been salvageable, admitting with almost complete reconstruction, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modernistic style instead. Indeed this had been contemplated even before the burn.

The Great Fire

In 1665 Christopher Wren designed a plan for the renovation of the St. Paul's Cathedral, which was starting to autumn into decay. But disaster struck again on the dark of September 2, 1666, when the Peachy Burn down of London destroyed four/fifth of all of London, wiping 13,200 houses and 89 churches, including the St. Paul'southward Cathedral off the map.

Christopher Wren'due south Masterpiece (design and construction)

In 1669, iii years after the Burn, Christopher Wren was appointed 'Surveyor of Works' and was tasked with the structure of a new church to replace the destroyed Gothic cathedral.
His offset design was deemed too pocket-size. In his 2d design, known equally the 'Corking Model', the cathedral was shaped like a Greek cross, with a portico, Corinthian columns and a hit large dome, which would be the world'south largest subsequently Michelangelo's dome at the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This design was rejected also; the Bishop considered it unsuitable for large processions. Wren suggested a third blueprint, this time with a larger nave and smaller dome, which was accepted in 1675. After the approving however Wren enlarged the dome and fabricated several other adjustments and then that the built cathedral now resembles the 'Great Model' and not the canonical design. The cathedral was built in a relative short fourth dimension bridge: its first stone was laid on June 21, 1675 and the building was completed in 1711. The dome reaches a tiptop of 111 meters (366 ft) and weights nearly 66,000 ton. Eight arches back up the dome. On top of the dome is a large lantern with a weight of 850 ton. 560 Steps lead visitors along three galleries all the way to the acme of the Dome.

Sir Christopher Wren

The architect of St Paul'southward, Sir Christopher Wren , was an extraordinary figure. Although he is now all-time known as an architect, he was besides an astronomer, scientist and mathematician.

Wren was a founder member in 1660 of the Royal Society, a national academy for science, but he was also a man of profound Christian faith. He came from a family of clergy who had been loyal to the Royalist crusade during the Civil War, and information technology was organized religion that inspired his though. 'Architecture', he once explained, 'aims at eternity.'

Equally an architect favoured past royalty and state, Wren'southward commissions varied wildly. They included the Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich Hospital, and extensive piece of work at Hampton Court Palace and Kensington Palace, besides equally some magnificent building in Oxford, where he studied and worked as Professor of Astronomy from 1661 to 1673.

However, Wren's great passion was for the City of London, for St Paul'south and for the many Metropolis churches he designed following the Great Burn of London.

The i nterior of St Paul's Cathedral

The Baroque interior is merely equally imposing equally the outside of the church. The mosaics on the ceiling were added in 1890 by William Richmond after Queen Victoria complained that there was not enough color in the cathedral. The baldachin above the altar was rebuilt in 1958 after it was damaged by bombardments during World War Ii. The design is based on a sketch created past Wren. The just monument in the church that survived the fire of 1666 is the tomb of John Donne, from 1631.
Several famous people are entombed in the cathedral's crypt. Well-nigh notable are the tomb of the Duke of Wellington — who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo — and the tomb of Admiral Nelson , who died at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Dome

St Paul's is congenital in the shape of a cross, with a large dome crown the intersection of its arms. At 111.three meters high, it is one of the largest cathedral domes in the world and weighs approximately 65,000 tons. The area under the dome is the chief place for worship in the cathedral.

St Paul's has a three-dome construction. This allows the inner dome to rise in proportion to the internal architecture, and the outer dome to be much larger and impressive. It is this outer dome shell that is prominent on the London skyline. The inner dome is the painted dome one can see looking up from the cathedral floor. Betwixt these two domes is a 3rd; a brick cone which provide strength and supports the stone lantern in a higher place.

Information technology has been suggested that Wren had intended to decorate the inside of the dome in mosaic . But in 1708 the cathedral commissioners appointed James Thornhill to pigment it in monochrome, partly considering mosaic was expensive, time-consuming and considered too elaborate.

Thornhill began piece of work on the dome in 1715 and finished four years after. His murals are based on a series of pen and ink sketches on the life of St Paul'due south. What we encounter today are reproductions from Thornhill's designs that were repainted in 1853. The originals deteriorated as a consequence of the British climate and London smog.

The Whispering Gallery
The Whispering Gallery, merely inside the dome, is renowned for its acoustics. Information technology runs effectually the inside of the dome 99 feet (thirty.2 m) to a higher place the cathedral floor. Information technology is reached by 259 steps from footing level. Information technology gets its name because of the audio-visual furnishings 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 indicate around the gallery. A depression murmur is equally audible.

The Stone Gallery
The Stone Gallery is the showtime of two galleries above the Whispering Gallery that encircle the outside of the dome. The Stone Gallery stands at 173 ft (53.4 metres) from ground-level and tin can be reached by 378 steps.

The Golden Gallery
The Aureate Gallery is the smallest of the galleries and runs around the highest point of the outer dome, 280ft (85.4 metres). Visitors that climb the 528 steps to this gallery will be treated to panoramic views of London that accept in the River Thames, Tate Modernistic and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

The Ball and Lantern
The original ball and cross were erected by Andrew Niblett, Denizen and Armourer of London, in 1708. They were replaced by a new ball and cross in 1821 designed by the Surveyor to the Fabric, CR Cockerell and executed by R and Eastward Kepp. The ball and cross stand at 23 anxiety loftier and weigh approximately 7 tonnes.

T he Crypt

The crypt is the cathedral'south foremost burial place, and the identify where those who have made an outstanding contribution to the life of the nation now residue.

The crypt has monuments to conflicts and other outstanding achievements in the crusade of a better globe. In some cases the names on these monuments are still cherished by loved ones. We are reminded of the human cost paid by those who have striven for what they believed in.

Nelson's Tomb
Lord Nelson was famously killed in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and cached in St Paul's after a state funeral. He was laid in a bury made from the timber of a French ship he defeated in battle.

The blackness marble sarcophagus that adorns his tomb was originally made for Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor during the reign of Henry VII in the early sixteenth century. Afterward Wolsey'southward fall from favour, information technology remained unused at Windsor until a suitable recipient could exist found. Nelson's viscount coronet now tops this handsome monument.

Wellington'south Tomb
Lord Wellington rests in a simple but imposing catafalque made of Cornish granite. Although a national hero, Wellington was not a homo of glory in his victories. 'Nothing except a battle lost can be held and then melancholy as a battle won,' he wrote in a dispatch of 1815, the year in which he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

The Duke was known every bit The Iron Knuckles and as a result of his tireless campaigning, has left a colorful listing of namesakes — Wellington boots, the dish Beef Wellington and even a brand of cigars. He as well coined some memorable phrases. He gave the expression '… and another thing' to the English linguistic communication and declared 'The boxing of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.'

The banners hanging around Wellington's tomb were made for his funeral procession. Originally, there was one for Prussia, which was removed during World War I and never reinstated.

Sir Christopher Wren's Tomb
Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul'due south, is buried in the south aisle at the east end of the crypt. Wren's tomb is marked past a unproblematic stone and is surrounded by memorials to his family unit, to Robert Hooke (Wren's acquaintance and intellectual equal) and to the masons and other colleagues who worked on the building of St Paul's. The Latin epitaph in a higher place his tomb, written by his son famously addresses usa: 'Reader, if you see his monument, expect effectually yous.'

In the aforementioned section of the crypt are many tombs and memorials of artists, scientists and musicians. They include the painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir John Everett Millais; the scientist Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin; the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan); and the sculptor Henry Moore.

The Chapels

The Chapels at St Paul's offer a identify for reflection, prayer and smaller services. On the cathedral floor yous will find the Chapel of All Souls, Chapel of St Dunstan, Chapel of St Michael & St George, the Middlesex Chapel and the American Memorial Chapel and and so on.

Chapel of the Order of the British Empire The OBE Chapel
The original St Religion's was a parish church building attached to the old cathedral destroyed in the Cracking Fire of London. During the rebuilding of St Paul's, this chapel was dedicated to St Faith close to the foundations of the onetime church and offered parishioners their own identify of worship in the building.

In 1960 this chapel became the spiritual home to the Order of the British Empire. The Social club was created by Male monarch George 5 in 1917, in recognition made by women during the Starting time Globe War. Until so no woman had been eligible for an award, although an exception was made for Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern British nursing. The OBE was separated into military and civil divisions in 1918. Today, honor-holders of the OBE and members of their family may be married and baptized in the chapel.

All Souls' Chapel: the Kitchener Memorial

Situated on the ground flooring of the north-west belfry, this chapel was dedicated in 1925 to the memory of Field Align Lord Kitchener and the servicemen who died in the First World War. Kitchener died at bounding main and his body was never recovered. He is best known for his restructuring of the British army during the Kickoff World War and for the most effective recruitment entrada in British armed services history, using the slogan 'Your Land Needs Yous'.

Amid the chapel's artifacts are sculptures of the military saints St Michael and St George, a beautiful pietб — a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ — and an effigy of Lord Kitchener. The silver-plated candlesticks on the altar are fabricated from melted-down trophies won by the London Rifle Brigade.
St Dunstan'due south Chapel

This chapel was consecrated in 1699, was the second part of Wren's edifice to come into use, after the Quire. In 1905, it was defended to St Dunstan, a Bishop of London who became of Archbishop of Canterbury in 959. Before this it was known as the Morning Chapel, because the early morning service of Mattins was conducted here.

The Chapel of St Dunstan is set bated for prayer. You can low-cal a candle here, as a sign of prayer, and you tin can also exit the names of those you wish to be remembered in prayer during one of the cathedral'due south services. Visitors do non take to pay to enter this chapel.

The Chapel of St Michael and St George

This chapel is located on the south alley on the cathedral floor. The chapel was originally the consistory court in which cases of ecclesiastical law were heard. Renamed in 1906 and defended to St Michael and St George, it is the spiritual domicile of the Social club of St Michael and St George, founded in 1818 to honor people who take rendered important service overseas.

Among the chapel stalls are banners of current knights and officers of the Guild, including HM The Queen, who visits periodically for the Order's ceremonial service.
The Chapel of St Erkenwald and St Ethelburga: The Middlesex Chapel

This chapel is habitation to members of the Middlesex Regiment. The flags in the chapel are the colour of the Middlesex Regiment — the empty pole belongs to a flag that was lost during World War II. Behind the altar stands William Holman Hunt's Light of the Earth.

The American Memorial Chapel

At the e end of the Cathedral behind the High Altar is the American Memorial Chapel. The Chapel is likewise known as the Jesus Chapel, as the space was known prior to World State of war II.

This office of the building was destroyed during the Blitz and as office of the mail service-state of war restoration it was decided that the people of United kingdom should commemorate the 28,000 Americans who were killed on their manner to, or stationed in, the UK during the 2nd World War. Their names are recorded in the 500-page roll of accolade encased backside the loftier altar. This was presented by Full general Eisenhower in 1951 and a folio of the volume is turned every 24-hour interval.

The American Chapel was designed past Stephen Dykes Bower and constructed by Godfrey Allen, Surveyor to the Fabric 1931-1956. The images that adorn its woods, metalwork and stained glass include depictions of the flora and fauna of Northward America and references to historical events. The three chapel windows date from 1960. They feature themes of service and cede, while the insignia around the edges stand for the American states and the US war machine. The limewood panelling incorporates a rocket — a tribute to America's achievements in space.

The Knights Bachelor Chapel

The Chapel of the Royal Society of Knights Bachelor is also known as St Martin's Chapel.

The Chapel was dedicated by HM the Queen in 2008. The Dean and Chapter of St Paul'due south had offered the Imperial Society of Knights Available the use in perpetuity of an surface area which, although a chapel in the 1930s, had been disused for many years and was closed off from the primary infinite of the Catacomb.

The Chapel is panelled with English language oak and in it, in two elegant cases, are kept the Registers which contain the names of all Knights Bachelor from 1257 to date and besides the Founder Knights' and Benefactors' Book. Most them is displayed Queen Victoria's sword with which she knighted many famous men; this is on loan from Wilkinson Sword Ltd. The stalls of the Officers bear heraldic stall-plates. The cantankerous and candlesticks were made past Mr Gerald Gilbert, and many other fine craftsmen from Houghtons of York have worked to brand the Chapel noble and traditional in pattern.

The Collections

The Cathedral Collections form a unique tape of the spiritual, liturgical, architectural, administrative and social life of one of the world'southward outstanding buildings and its imposing predecessor, the Pre-burn Cathedral. They are maintained as an asset for current apply and as a legacy for future generations.

The Library
The books and manuscripts are housed in 1 of London's all-time-preserved 18th century interiors, the cathedral library. The Dean and Affiliate of St Paul's take retained a working library in the present edifice since 1720. Today information technology houses approximately 21,500 volumes, including printed books, manuscripts and dissever pamphlets. These works accrued through purchase, heritance and donation, largely from 1690 onwards, course a collection still used today by academics, students and researchers of all kinds. Dean and Chapter, Pocket-sized Canons, and Cathedral School archives once held in the Library are now on long-term deposit at Guildhall Library .

Object Collection
The Object Collection denotes a groovy variety of objects associated with the history of the structure and decoration of St Paul'southward Cathedral and objects which have been or still are used or presented within the building. Within the Object Drove there are some very remarkable and important artifacts that are significant to the history of St Paul'southward Cathedral, including models, paintings and archaeological stones. Many famous artists, architects and designers take contributed works to the ornament of the cathedral including William Holman Hunt, William Burgess, Alfred Stevens and Thou.F. Watts, Auguste Rodin and Henry Moore.

Architectural Annal
The Architectural Archive contains the papers and drawings created past the Surveyor to the Textile and related drawings by consultants, contractors, artists and designers. The drawings and records chart the original design and structure of the Cathedral by Christopher Wren and the architectural history of the building to the present day.

Exterior and Churchyard

W Front

The west front of St Paul'southward is dominated by a triangular relief depicting the conversion of the cathedral'due south patron saint to Christianity. Above information technology stands the effigy of St Paul himself, flanked by other apostles and the 4 evangelists. This was the work of Francis Bird (in 1718-21), who was greatly influenced by the church building architecture of Rome. Bird also carved the statue of Queen Anne that stands in front of St Paul's. Anne was the reigning monarch at the time of the cathedral's completion.

The West Facade

In that location is also a tomb of Christopher Wren himself and a number of important artists are buried here as well. The impressive facade at the west facade of the church consists of a large portico and pediment. A relief on the tympanum depicts the conversion of Paul and was created in 1706. The portico is flanked by 2 towers which weren't part of the original plan. Wren added them at the concluding infinitesimal, in 1707.

W Towers
The ii western towers are topped with a pineapple — a symbol of peace, prosperity and hospitality. Near the height of the southward-w belfry is a clock (in the picture), which was installed in 1893 and has three faces, each more than 5 meters in bore. To a higher place the clock hang Smashing Tom, the hour bong, and Smashing Paul, the largest swinging bell in Europe. Find out more than well-nigh the cathedral bells .

South Churchyard
The south churchyard was refashioned in 2008. On the pavement at the western end of the churchyard is a flooring-plan on the pre-Fire cathedral with an outline of the present one superimposed on it.

Chapter House
Today the Affiliate Business firm, or authoritative centre for the cathedral, stands on the north side: an elegant brick building that faces into the newly developed Paternoster Square.

St Paul'southward Cross
Nearby, in the cathedral's north-east churchyard, a plaque marks the location of St Paul's Cantankerous, a popular centre of news and comment, where during the reformation William Tyndale's New Attestation was burned because it was in English, and where generations of Londoners played their role in fomenting public stance. The column mounted with a gold state of St Paul also commemorates the public preaching of the Christian organized religion in this location.

Of import Events held in St. Paul's Cathedral

The church was the site of a number of of import historic events such equally the funeral of Admiral Nelson in 1806 and the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married hither in 1981. Marriages according to the Rites of the Church building of England take place in the Chapel of The Order of the British Empire located in the crypt of St Paul's, subject to a successful application for a Special Licence granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury .
This privilege is extended only to members of the Guild of St Michael and St George, the Gild of the British Empire, holders of the British Empire Medal, members of the Purple Society of Knights Available and their children (but non grandchildren).

Worship and Music

St Paul'due south Cathedral stands as a symbol and focus of the presence of God in the world and is served by a customs of people who work and worship in this place. At the heart of life of St Paul's Cathedral is the daily pattern of prayer and worship. This daily rhythm of prayer forms the framework of all that we do. During hourly prayers visitors and pilgrims can join the Lord's Prayer , in their own language, equally they pause and pray. Music is integral to the worshipping and educational life of the cathedral. The Cathedral Choir , fabricated upwards of Choristers and Vicars Choral, usually sing Evensong and the Sun Sung Eucharist.

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