St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

In St. Paul's Churchyard, in Castle Baynard Ward.

Stow says it was first founded by Ethelbert king of Kent, about 610 (See Charter, DCCCCLXXXII. Kemp, Cod. Dip., marked doubtful) (S. 326), and in the A.S. Chr. it is recorded under date 604, that Ethelbert gave to Mellitus a bishop's see at London (Thorpe, I. 37, 38).

In Athelstan's Charter to St. Paul's, 915–22, he describes King Sebbi as the first benefactor with Bishop Erkenwold (Thorpe, Dip. A.S. 176–7).

Burnt down 962 and rebuilt (Ang.-Sax. Chr., Thorpe, I. 220).

The Church with a considerable portion of the city was again destroyed by fire in 1086–7 (Ang.-Sax. Chr., Earle and Plummer, I. 218).

The rebuilding was commenced by Bishop Mauritius, and carried on by his successor Richard de Belmeis, and from a charter of H. I. set out in Dugdale it appears that the King gave "so much of the ditch of my castle on the south towards the Thames as was necessary for making the wall of the church, so much of the same ditch as sufficed for making the way outside the wall, and on the other side of the church towards the north, as much of the same ditch as had been destroyed by the Bishop" (Dugdale, St. Paul's, App. 21).

It is explained in Lib. Cust. that the castle in question was Castle Baynard, so that the moat of this castle must originally have extended as far as the north side of St. Paul's (I. p. 339).

The process of rebuilding, if much progress had been made, must have been seriously interfered with in when the church was again burnt (Lib. de Ant. Leg. p. 197).

In 1230 it was struck by lightning (Ann. Lond. p. 29).

Dedicated 1240 (ib. 37). In 1259 the new fabric was commenced (Chr. M. and S. p. 40).

In 1314 a new cross was put up on the bell tower of St. Paul's. The dimensions of the cathedral at this time were 690 ft. in length, 130 ft. in breadth, and 102 ft. in height. The steeple was 88 ft. The area comprised 3½ acres, 1½ roods, 6 virgates. The bell tower was 260 ft. high (Ann. Paulini, p. 277).

These dimensions do not altogether agree with those set out in L. and P. Chas. I. 1634–5, p. 427, which are as follows: Area the same. Length 280 ft, breadth 130, height of western roof from altar 102 ft., height of roof of new building from altar 88 ft. Height of bell tower 520 ft. Belfry cross 15 ft. high with a cross beam of 6 ft.

It would appear from these various records that the church took nearly two centuries in rebuilding after the fire of 1087, and in consequence it exhibited specimens of Norman and early English architecture, and also of the commencement of the Decorated period. There was a Lady Chapel at the east end, a chapel north of the Lady Chapel dedicated to St. George, and one south dedicated to St. Dunstan.

In the crypt was the parish church of St. Faith, and in the churchyard at the south west angle the parish church of St. Gregory.

This old cathedral was a stately and magnificent building. Perhaps the most beautiful portions of the church were the nave, consisting of twelve bays, the central tower open as a lantern, the choir windows of unusual length, and the east window circular in form and rich in colour and design. Two bell towers stood at the western end of the church.

The Steeple was burnt 1443–4, having been struck by lightning and the fire put out with difficulty (Chr. of Lond. ed. Kingsford, p. 156).

It was again struck by lightning and completely destroyed in 1561, and not rebuilt (S. 333–4).

Plans for rebuilding it and for the general repair of the church were discussed temp. Chas. I. and Chas. II. , but not much progress had been made with the work when the old church was completely destroyed in the Fire, 1666. The new foundations of the present cathedral were laid 1673–5. It was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the form of a long cross and is built of Portland stone. The East end or quire was commenced first (L. and P. Chas. II. XVII. p. 119).

Consecrated 1697, but not finally completed until 1710, at a cost of over £747,000.

Interesting papers on the situation of the old cathedral, etc., are to be found in Arch. XLVII. (2), 381, and of the details of the new work in Trans. L. and M. Arch. Soc. III. p. 39 et seq., and St. Paul's Eccl. Soc. I. 177 et seq.

The constitution of the capitular body and the duties devolving upon the various officials of the church are set out at length in Newcourt's Repertorium and in Dugdale's History of St. Paul's, which contain valuable information relating to the early history of the church.

The library contains a most valuable collection of early deeds and documents, throwing considerable light upon the history of the church and its possessions.

The contents of many of them are admirably set out in H. MSS. Com. 9th Rep.

The cathedral is said to have been erected on the site of an old Roman temple to Diana.

St. Paul's Cathedral, is the most magnificent Protestant church in Europe, and was built by Sir Christopher Wren, after the fire of London, on the site of the ancient cathedral, and on which had been formerly a Roman temple. This cathedral flourished exceedingly during the Saxon heptarchy, and was splendidly endowed by various royal and noble benefactors. It underwent a substantial repair in the reign of James I., under the superintendance of Inigo Jones, who added to it the incongruity of one of the finest Corinthian porticoes of modern times. It was destroyed by the great fire of 1666, and the present edifice erected in its stead. The history and description of this Cathedral, which would occupy too great a space for the limited nature of this work, may be found in every work that treats of the metropolis.

It is the metropolitan church of London, and the cathedral of the see. The present prelates and clergy of this cathedral are, the Right Hon. and Right Rev. Charles James Bloomfield, D.D., Lord Bishop of London, Provisional Dean of Canterbury, and Dean of the Chapel Royal, &c. &c. who was consecrated Bishop of Chester in 1824, and translated to London in 1828; Edward, Lord Bishop of Llandaff, Dean, 1827; the Rev. Richard Richardson, D.D., Chancellor, 1792; the Rev. Charles Almeric Belli, M.A., Precentor, 1819; the Ven. Joseph Holden Pott, M.A., Archdeacon of London, 1814; the Rev. Thomas Hughes, D.D., Consumpta per Mare, 1807; F.W. Blomberg, D.D., Wedland, 1822; and Robert James, Bishop of Chichester, Neasden, 1827, Canons residentiary. The Rev. W. Gibson, M.A., Chamblerlainewood, 1781; Archdeacon Nares, M.A., Islington, 1793; Robert Watts, M.A., Eald-street, 1797; Archdeacon Parkinson, D.D., Chiswick, 1798; Thomas Briggs, MA., Newington, 1800; the Dean of Winchester, D.D., Harleston, 1802; Thomas Wintle, B.D., Wilsden, 1805; George Secker, M.A. Brownswood, 1807; William Wood, B.D., Coddington Minor, 1810; Richard Lendon, M.A., Oxgate, 1812; Thomas Randolph, M.A., Cantlers, 1812; W.S. Goddard, D.D., Reculverland, 1814; the Bishop of Carlisle, D.D., Finsbury, 1816; A.R. Chauvel, B.C.L., Pancras, 1817; Samuel Birch, D.D., Twyford, 1810; John H. Randolph, M.A., Mora, 1822; John Sleath, D.D., Rugmere, 1822; Thomas Gaisford, M.A., Caddington Major; John Davison, B.D., Sneating; Archdeacon Watson, D.D., Brondesbury, 1825; Hubert Oakeley, M.A., Wenlocks-barn, 1825; Jonathan Tyers Barrett, D.D., Mapesbury, 1825; H. Handley Norris, M.A., Holborn, 1825; C.E.J. Dering, M.A., Tottenhall, 1827; Charles Wordsworth, M.A., Portpool, 1828, Prebendaries; and the Rev. Henry Fly, D.D., Sub-Dean and First Canonry, 1783; Henry John Knapp, M.A., Second Ditto, 1817; William Holmes, M.A., Third Ditto, 1796; Richard Harris Barham, B.A., Fourth Ditto, 1821; William John Hall, M.A., Fifth Ditto, 1825; James William Vivian, D.D., Sixth Ditto, 1816; Richard Webb, M.A., Seventh Ditto, 1799; Theophilus Lane, M.A., Eighth Ditto, 1824; R.C. Packman, B.A., Ninth Ditto, 1822; E.G.A. Beckwith, M.A., Eleventh Ditto, 1797; Christopher Pache, M.A., Twelfth Ditto, 1817, Minor Canons.

In 1673, Wren commenced preparations for the new building and submitted various designs for the inspection of the King and the commissioners. He also made the beautiful model, which is still preserved in an apartment over the Morning Prayer Chapel of the cathedral, a plan of which, engraved by Lowry, is given in my Life of Wren. This plan was deservedly a favourite with its author, and is in many respects superior to the one that is executed. The present one is said to have been constructed on the Roman Catholic cathedral plan, through the influence of the king's brother, James, Duke of York, who wished to have it ready for the revival of the Popish service. The architect, it is said, shed tears at its rejection, and complied with the royal mandate with regret.

On the 12th of November 1673, Wren received the appointment of architect to, and one of the commissioners for the rebuilding of the cathedral church of St. Paul. In the beginning of 1675, the works were commenced, and his skilful and scientific master mason, Thomas Strong, made his first contract with the commissioners. By the end of the year the designs were approved, received the signature of the kings, and the commissioners; and the architect was allowed to make such variation and improvements as he pleased. The work of destroying the ruins of the ancient structure was also commenced, first by exploding with gunpowder, then by the use of the battering ram.

The first stone of the new cathedral was laid on the 21st of June 1675, by the architect and his lodge of Freemasons. The trowel and mallet used on this occasion, are still preserved in the Lodge of Antiquity, of which Sir Christopher was Master. In 1678, Compton, Bishop of London, issued an address, exhorting all persons to contribute with liberality towards this national undertaking, and his exhortation was eminently successful.

In 1678 the architect set out the piers and pendentives of the great cupola, when the oft-told incident occurred of his accidentally using a fragment of a tomb-stone, with the word "resurgam" inscribed upon it.

After the death of Charles II., his successor, James II. issued a new commission to continue the works, dated February 6, 1684, that of Charles having become void by his death. In this instrument the name of the architect was introduced, as before, and the works proceeded with unabated activity. By the latter end of April 1685, the walls of the choir, with its aisles, being 170 feet long, and 120 feet broad, with the stupendous arched vaults of its crypt were finished, as also the new chapter-house and vestries. The two beautiful circular porticoes of the transepts, which are among the masterpieces of modern architecture, were also brought to the same height, and were all built of large blocks of Portland stone.

In June 1688, the year of our glorious revolution, the building of the cathedral had advanced so far, that the commissioners announced that they had contracted for the timer for roofing the aisles of the choir, which were now ready to receive them. The choir was reported to be finished in 1694, as far as the stone work, and the scaffolding was struck. In the course of the following year, Wren published his friend, Robert Bayle's Discourse against customary Swearing, and affixed an order from himself and his brother commissioners, against such an abuse of language by the workmen employed in and about St. Paul's.

On the 2d of December 1696, the choir of the new cathedral was opened for divine service on the day of the public thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick, and the Bishop of Salisbury (Gilbert Burnet) preached before the King and a numerous court.

On February 1, 1699, the beautiful chapel, at the north-west portion of the cathedral, now called and used as the Morning Prayer chapel, was opened for divine service, with appropriate ceremony, and in 1708 the general works of the cathedral had proceeded so near towards completion, that on the 23d of February that year, Sir Humphrey Mackworth, brought up from the committee to the House of Commons, a report as to the covering of the cupola, and laid several estimates for it, before the House of Commons. In 1710, when Sir Christopher had attained the 78th year of his age, the highest stone of the lantern upon the cupola, was laid by his eldest son, Christopher, attended by their Lodge of Freemasons, and with due ceremony. In this year, the celebrated controversy began, about the frauds and abuses at St. Paul's, over which the architect so completely triumphed, and in 1718, in the 86th year of his age, and in the 49th of his office as Surveyor-General of the Public Buildings, was this great man displaced from his office to make room for an intriguer of the name of Benson, who has been consigned by Pope, to the most distinguished honours of the Dunciad.

The cathedral was left almost untouched till the reign of George III., when Robert Mylne was appointed its conservating architect, and since then C.R. Cockerell, Esq., A.R.A., who has so scientifically restored the ball and cross.

Paul's (St.), the Old Cathedral of London, destroyed in the Great Fire, was begun to be built by Bishop Maurice, A.D. 1087, on the site of a church to the same saint, founded about A.D. 610, by Ethelbert, King of Kent, of which church Mellitus was the first, and Erkenwald (whose shrine stood at the back of the high altar) the fourth bishop. According to a tradition of the time the first church was erected on the site of a temple dedicated to Diana. Bishop Maurice's cathedral was built in part from the ruins of the Palatine Tower, or castle, which stood by the Fleet river, where afterwards was placed the monastery of the Black Friars. The ruins of the Palatine Tower were the Conqueror's contribution towards the cost of the new cathedral. The progress of the works was necessarily slow, and the church was far from being completed when, 1136, it was seriously damaged (Mathew Paris says destroyed) by fire. When resumed the works appear to have been continually carried forward, but in their progress great alterations were made in the scale and character of the several parts. The steeple is reported as finished in 1221, and a new choir in a similar style in 1240; then again it was lengthened eastward in 1255, and "nearly completed" in 1283, nearly two centuries after its commencement. It exhibited therefore examples of the Norman, of the whole period of the Early English, and of the opening years of the Decorated style. Subsequent repairs and additions carried it through the whole of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods, but the portions executed in these latter styles were unimportant: essentially the church was Norman, Early English and Early Decorated. The dimensions, according to the careful investigations of Mr. E.B. Ferrey,¹ were, length, from east to west, 596 feet; breadth, 104 feet; height to outer ridge of nave roof, 130 feet; of choir, 142 feet; internal height to ridge of vaulting of nave, 93 feet; of choir, 101 feet; Lady Chapel, height of tower, 285 feet; of spire, 208 feet. Dugdale, following Stow, makes the total length 690 feet, and in breadth 130. There was a Lady Chapel at the east end, with a chapel on the north of it, dedicated to St. George, and one on the south, dedicated to St. Dunstan. In the crypt below the choir was the parish church of St. Faith, and at the Ludgate corner (towards the Thames) the parish church of St. Gregory. "St. Paul's," says Fuller, "may be called the mother church indeed, having one babe in her body [St. Faith] and another in her arms [St. Gregory]." The nave of twelve bays was very long and very noble, the central tower appears to have been open as a lantern internally, the choir windows of unusual length and height, and at the east was a rich circular window. At the west end were two massive angle towers "made for bell towers,"² but used also as prisons. On the west side of the south transept were small cloisters, in which was painted the celebrated Dance of Death, and in the centre of the cloister garth was the Chapter House, built in 1332, "a beautiful piece of work," as Stow says, but small, its internal diameter being only 32 feet 6 inches. Next the cloisters was a charnel-house, with a chapel over it. [See Pardon Churchyard.] The church of St. Gregory was at the south-west angle of the cathedral. The bishop's palace was at the north-west corner of the churchyard. At the north-east end of the cathedral, "about the midst of the churchyard,"³ stood the celebrated Cross of St. Paul's, from which sermons were regularly preached and occasionally political addresses delivered. The cathedral and precincts were encompassed by a stone wall, in which for entrance and exit were six gate-houses. [See St. Paul's Cross; St. Paul's Churchyard.]

Old St. Paul's was so severely injured by fire in 1561 that it was necessary to take the steeple down and roof the church anew with boards and lead. Several attempts were made to restore it, and money for the new building of the steeple was, it is said, collected.⁴ James I. countenanced a sermon at Paul's Cross in favour of so pious an undertaking, but nothing was done till 1633, when reparations commenced with some activity, and Inigo Jones designed, at the expense of Charles I., a classic portico to a Gothic church. This portico (of itself a noble structure) was 200 feet long, 40 feet high, and 50 feet deep. It was without a pediment, Inigo intending to have it surmounted by ten statues of kings, benefactors to the church.⁵ Charles designed to have built the church anew (of which Inigo's portico was only an instalment), but his thoughts were soon drawn in another direction, and Old St. Paul's, under Cromwell, was made a horse- quarter for soldiers. The Restoration witnessed another attempt to restore the church—a commission was appointed and a subscription opened,¹ but before a sufficient fund was raised the whole structure was destroyed in the Fire of London.

The daring flames peep'd in, and saw from far
The awful beauties of the sacred quire:
But since it was profan'd by Civil War,
Heaven thought it fit to have it purg'd by fire.—Dryden.

On the north side of the choir, "on whose monument hung his proper helmet and spear, as also his target, covered with horn,"² stood the stately tomb of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (d. 1399), with recumbent effigies of the old knight and of Constance of Castile, his second wife. In St. Dunstan's Chapel was the fine old tomb of Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (d. 1310), from whom Lincoln's Inn derives its name. In the middle aisle of the nave, on the right hand, approaching the altar, stood the tomb of Sir John Beauchamp, (d. 1358), constable of Dover Castle, and son to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. This Sir John Beauchamp lived in great state in the ward of Castle Baynard, and his house after his death was bought by Edward III., for the purposes of the royal wardrobe. [See Wardrobe Place.] His tomb was commonly called Duke Humphrey's Tomb, and the nave of the church, from this circumstance, Duke Humphrey's Walk. At the upper end of the nave was the mortuary chapel of Thomas Kemp, Bishop of London, who built Paul's Cross pulpit, and here and elsewhere in the nave and choir were monuments of various degrees of richness the tombs of many other bishops of London.³ Between the choir and south aisle was a noble monument to Sir Nicholas Bacon (d. 1578), the father of Lord Chancellor Bacon; and higher than the host and altar—for so Bishop Corbet describes it—

Nor needs the Chancellor boast whose pyramids
Above the host and altar reared is—Bishop Corbet, p. 8.

Hentzner (1598) calls it a "magnificent monument, ornamented with pyramids of marble and alabaster." Here stood (between two of the columns of the choir) the sumptuous monument of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor (d. 1591). Near Hatton's tomb was a tablet to Sir Philip Sydney, and another of the same unpretending description to his father-in-law, Sir Francis Walsingham. The stately appearance of Hatton's monument, and the humble nature of Walsingham's and Sidney's, occasioned the following epigram, of which, by the bye, John Stow was himself the author:—

Philip and Francis have no tomb,
For great Christopher takes all the room.

In the south aisle of the choir stood the tombs of two of the deans—Colet, founder of St. Paul's School, and Dr. Donne, the poet—Colet represented as a recumbent skeleton, Donne standing in his shroud. Dean Nowell, who played so prominent a part in the controversies throughout the reign of Elizabeth, was also buried here. So also were Lily, the grammarian, the second master of St. Paul's School, and Linacre the physician, "the friend of Colet and Erasmus." Here, too, in a vault on the north side of the choir, near the tomb of John of Gaunt, was Vandyck buried (d. 1641); but the outbreak of the wars under Charles I. prevented the erection of any monument to his memory.

The "Pervyse of Paul's," or the middle aisle of the church, commonly called "Duke Humphrey's Walk" or "Paul's Walk " (a piece of naked architecture, unenriched by any other piece of sculpture than the so-called Duke Humphrey's tomb), was for a century and more (1550 to 1650) the common news-room of London, the resort of the wits and gallants about town.

It was the fashion of those times, and did so continue till these, for the principal gentry, lords and courtiers, and men of all professions not merely mechanic, to meet in St. Paul's Church by eleven, and walk in the Middle Aisle till twelve; and after dinner from three to six; during which time some discoursed of business, others of news. Now, in regard of the universal commerce there happened little that did not first or last arrive here. And I being young did associate myself at those hours with the choicest company I could pick out.—Works of Francis Osborn, ed. 1701, p. 403.

Here lawyers stood at their pillars (like merchants on 'Change) and received their clients.¹ Here masterless men, at the Si quis door, as it was called, set up their bills for service.² Here the rood loft, tombs and font were used as counters for payments.

If A pay B on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel next coming, in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul's in London ... at the rood loft of the rood of the north door within the same church; or tomb of St. Erkenwald; or at the door of such a chapel, or at such a pillar within the same church, etc.—Littleton's Tenures, B. iii. c. v. § 342.

Here Falstaff bought Bardolph ("I bought him in Paul's"). Here the young gallant took "four turns," as Dekker prescribes, and gratified his vanity by strutting about in the most fashionable attire. Here assignations were made.

Mrs. Honeysuckle. I'll come. The hour?
Justinianus. Two: the way through Paul's; every wench take a pillar; there clap on your masks: your men will be behind you; and before your prayers are half done be before you, and man you out at several doors. You'll be there.—Westward Ho, (4to, 1607), Act ii. Sc. I; and see Act ii. Sc. 2.

Here the penniless man dined with Duke Humphrey. Here spur money was demanded by the choristers from any person entering the cathedral during divine service with spurs on.

Never be seen to mount the steps into the quire, but upon a high festival day, to prefer the fashion of your doublet; and especially if the singing-boys seem to take note of you; for they are able to buzz your praises above their anthems, if their voices have not lost their maidenheads: but be sure your silver spurs dog your heels, and then the boys will swarm about you like so many white butterflies; when you in the open quire shall draw forth a perfumed embroidered purse, the glorious sight of which will entice many countrymen from their devotion to wondering: and quoit silver into the boys' hands, that it may be heard above the first lesson, although it be read in a voice as big as one of the great organs.—Dekker, Gull's Horn-book, pp. 99, 100.

Hither Fleetwood, the Recorder of London, came "to learn some news" to convey by letter to Lord Burghley. Here Ben Jonson has laid a scene in Every Man out of His Humour, and here he found his Captain Bobadil, "a Paul's man," as he is called in the dramatis personæ before Every Man in his Humour. The noise was very great, and Inigo Jones's portico was built, says Dugdale,¹ "as an ambulatory for such as usually walking in the body of the church disturbed the solemn service in the choir." All this was unseemly enough in a place set apart for public worship, but the nuisance was formerly of a still greater magnitude. From the Reformation to the 1st and 2d of Philip and Mary, the nave was a common thoroughfare for people with vessels of ale and beer, baskets of bread, fish, flesh, and fruit, men leading mules, horses, and other beasts. So great, indeed, would the nuisance appear to have become, that the Mayor and Common Council, on and after August 1, 1554, prohibited the use of the church for such "unreverent" purposes, and inflicted a succession of fines on all who should offend in future.²

The old cathedral suffered more "unreverent" treatment under the Commonwealth. The work of reparation was at once stopped, and the funds which had been subscribed for the purpose, over £17,000, seized and appropriated to other uses. The order for the removal of crucified and superstitious images from churches was followed by a destructive clearance of the interior of St. Paul's, and in 1650 a special order was issued for casting down the statues of James I. and Charles I. from Inigo Jones's portico.

That the statues of King James and the late King, standing now at the west end of Paule's bee throwne downe, and broken to pieces, and the inscription in the stone worke under them be deleted; And that a letter bee written to the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen to see this putt in execution.—Orders of Council of State, July 31, 1650.

To utilise the now disused cathedral the porch was let for conversion into shops for sempstresses and hucksters and other mean traders; the east end of the choir was appropriated as a meeting-house for the congregation of Dr. Burgess; and the rest of the church was made into a cavalry barrack, the horses being stabled within the sacred edifice.

The Saints in Pauls were the last weeke teaching their Horses to ride up the great Steps that lead into the Quire, where (as they derided) they might perhaps learne to Chaunt an Antheme; but one of them fell, and broke both his Leg and the Neck of his Rider, which hath spoiled his Chanting, for he was buried on Saturday night last. A }ust Judgement of God on such a prophane and Sacrilegious wretch.—Mercurius Elencticus, from Tuesday, January 2, till Tuesday, January 9, 1648.

With the restoration of monarchy came the resolve to restore the ruined cathedral. Much was done in the way of discussion, but no real progress was made till Wren was called in, and he after a careful survey proposed such extensive alterations in the fabric including the formation of a spacious central rotunda, "a very proper place for a large auditory," to be covered with "a cupola, and then end in a lantern," that the debates were renewed and continued till the Great Fire put an end to the discussion by the destruction of the building. The fire broke out on September 2, 1666. On the 7th Pepys "saw all the town burned;" and had "a miserable sight of Paul's church, with all the roofs fallen, and the body of the choir fallen into St. Faith's." With the church perished all the monuments. The tower and as much of the walls as withstood the fire were removed by Wren to make way for the cathedral which "rose, phoenix-like," out of the ashes of the old. The architectural arrangement of this celebrated church has been preserved to us by the joint labours of Dugdale and Hollar. Hollar's drawings were made in September 1641, and Dugdale's book, for which they were engraved, was first published in 1658. These engravings and descriptions, and all other available sources of information, have been carefully collated, and the results presented in a clear and compact form and illustrated with many excellent engravings in Mr. William Longman's History of the Three Cathedrals Dedicated to St. Paul (1873), while the general history of the cathedrals is treated with a masterly hand in the Annals of St. Paul's Cathedral, by the late Dean of St. Paul's, the Rev. Henry Hart Milman, D.D. In these two volumes will be found ample and trustworthy information on all matters relating to the old and the present cathedrals. Dr. Sparrow Simpson's volumes on Old St. Paul's may be consulted with advantage. There is an incident connected with Old St. Paul's, remarkable in itself, but made still more so by the many celebrated writers who allude to it. In the year 1600 "a middle-sized bay English gelding," the property of Bankes, a servant to the Earl of Essex, and a vintner in Cheapside, ascended to the top of St. Paul's, to the delight, it is said by Dekker, of a "number of asses," who brayed below. Bankes had taught his horse, which went by the name of Marocco, to count and perform a variety of feats. "Certainly," says Walter Raleigh in his History, "if Bankes had lived in elder times he would have shamed all the enchanters of the world; for whosoever was most famous among them could never master or instruct any beast as he did his horse." When the novelty had somewhat lessened in London, Bankes took his wonderful beast first to Paris and afterwards to Rome. He had better have stayed at home, for both he and his horse (which was shod with silver) were burnt for witchcraft.¹ Shakespeare alludes to "the dancing horse;"² and in a tract called "Maroccus Extaticus," 4to, 1595, there is a rude woodcut of the unfortunate juggler and his famous gelding.

Paul's (St.) Cathedral. After the almost entire destruction of Old St. Paul's Cathedral in the Great Fire of 1666, Dr. Christopher Wren was called upon to survey and report upon its condition. There was a strong desire on the part of the authorities to restore the old building, but Wren pronounced the remaining walls unsafe, and recommended their removal with a view to the construction of a new cathedral. A committee was appointed, who decided against Wren's advice to attempt to patch up the old walls, and with the result he had predicted. Writing to Wren, April 25, 1668, Dean Sancroft says: "What you whispered in my ear at your last coming hither is come to pass. Our work at the west end of St. Paul's is fallen about our ears." On July 25 a royal warrant was issued for taking down the walls, removing the tower and choir, and clearing the ground to the foundation of the east end, with a view to the construction of a new choir for temporary use, and which might ultimately form part of a new cathedral. At Dean Sancroft's request Wren prepared a design for a cathedral, "a plan handsome and noble," which was approved by the King but objected to by the Chapter as "not sufficiently of a cathedral form." This is the design of which the model exists in the South Kensington Museum. In plan it is a Greek cross, with a spacious circular auditory at the intersection of the arms, surmounted by a dome, and at the west end a stately portico. This form Wren conceived would combine the most convenient for the Protestant ritual and service with grandeur of architectural effect; but the clergy insisted that the form should be that of a Latin cross, and that there should be both nave and aisles, and also a lofty spire. Wren therefore produced another design, in which the nave was lengthened and a curious spire placed upon the dome. This was accepted, and on May 14, 1675, a royal warrant was issued appointing Wren the architect, and authorising him to begin the work, "with the east end or quire," according to the design, "because we found it very artificial, proper, and useful." Happily, however, a clause gave the architect "liberty in the prosecution of his work to make some variations rather ornamental than essential, as from time to time he should see proper," and Wren went beyond his license in his "variations," for he produced what was in fact an entirely different and infinitely superior design. The ground was already begun to be cleared, and the first stone of the new building was laid, June 21, 1675. Divine service was performed for the first time, December 2, 1697, on the day of thanksgiving for the peace of Ryswick. The King was present; the civic authorities attended in full state; and Bishop Burnet preached the sermon. The last stone was laid in 1710, thirty-five years after the first. It is frequently stated that the whole cathedral was begun and completed under one architect, Sir Christopher Wren; one master mason, Mr. Thomas Strong; and while one bishop, Dr. Henry Compton, presided over the diocese; but the latter part of the statement is not correct. Dr. Hinchman was bishop when the first stone was laid, and died the same year. Dr. Compton succeeded and was alive at the completion. Thomas Strong, mason, laid the foundation stone, June 21, 1675, and, dying 1681, was succeeded by his brother Edward, who continued and completed the work. The total cost of the building was £747,661 : 10s., which, with the exception of £68,341 in subscriptions, arrears of impropriations, and small sums coming under the head of royal gifts, fines, and forfeitures, and the sale of old materials, was defrayed by a tax on every chaldron of coal brought into the port of London, and the cathedral, it is said, deserves to wear, as it does, a smoky coat in consequence.

Exterior.—The general form or ground-plan is that of a Latin cross, with lateral projections at the west end of the nave, which give width and importance to the west front. Length from east to west, including the portico, 500 feet; breadth of the nave, 118 feet; across the transepts, 250 feet; at west end, including the Morning Chapel and that which contains the Wellington Monument, 190 feet; campanile towers at the west end, each 222 feet in height; and the height of the whole structure, from the pavement in the street to top of the cross, 404 feet. The outer diameter of the dome is 145 feet, the inner 108 feet. The outer dome is of wood, covered with lead, and does not support the lantern on the top, which rests on a cone of brick raised between the inner cupola and outer dome. The course of balustrade at the top was forced on Wren by the Commissioners for the building. "I never designed a balustrade," he says; "ladies think nothing well without an edging." The heavy railing was also erected in opposition to his opinion. The sculpture on the entablature (the Conversion of St. Paul), the statues on the pediment (St. Paul, with St. Peter and St. James on either side), and the unfortunate statue of Queen Anne, in front of the building, with the four figures at the angles, were all by F. Bird. The statue of Queen Anne was taken away and a copy set up in 1886. The phoenix over the south door was the work of Cibber. The heavy iron railing, of more than 2500 palisades, against which Wren protested, was cast at Lamberhurst, in Kent, at a cost of £11,202 : 0 : 6, and encloses upwards of 2 acres of ground. It is a good example of cast-iron work, but its removal from the west end of the cathedral in 1873 has shown the soundness of Wren's objection to its erection. Owing to the undue proximity of houses no good near view of the cathedral as a whole is to be had. The best distant view is from the Thames, just below Blackfriars Bridge. An excellent view of it, on the whole the best obtainable, was from the bridge itself, but this was destroyed by the erection of the ugly railway viaduct, and the lofty river-side granaries and warehouses. Observe.—From Ludgate Hill the magnificent effect of the west front, with the dome rising above it; the double portico and grand flanking campaniles at the west end; the beautiful semicircular porticoes, north and south; the use of two orders of architecture (Composite above, Corinthian below); the exquisite outline of the dome and lantern; and the general breadth and harmony of the whole building. The circular columns at the base of the stone gallery are, it is said, too tall for the length of the pilasters in the body of the building, but they are certainly not too tall for the place they occupy. The acute observer will not fail to notice that the north and south walls are carried up exteriorly to the height of the nave roof, but on entering the cathedral it will be immediately seen that the height of the aisles bears about the same proportion to the height of the nave as is usual in Gothic edifices. On ascending the clock tower and looking towards the dome the spectator will see that the upper portion of the wall is a mere screen to hide the flying buttresses constructed to resist the thrust of the nave roof. These buttresses are also apparent in the corridor leading to the clock and bells.

Interior.—The cupola, with the paintings upon it, is of brick, two bricks thick, with stone bandings at every rise of 5 feet, and a girdle of Portland stone at the base, containing a double chain of iron strongly linked together at every 10 feet, and weighing 95 cwts. 3 qrs. 23 lbs. Wren had the inside all painted one colour to get rid of the diversity of coloured stones. The paint has now been cleaned off, and the colours are painfully apparent. A defect of the interior was forced on the architect by the Duke of York, afterwards James II.

The side oratories at St. Paul's were added to Sir Christopher Wren's original design, by order of the Duke of York [afterwards James II.], who was willing to have them ready for the popish service, when there should be occasion. It narrowed the building, and broke in very much upon the beauty of the design. Sir Christopher insisted so strongly on the prejudice they would be of, that he actually shed some tears in speaking of it; but it was all in vain. The Duke absolutely insisted upon their being inserted and he was obliged to comply.—Mr. Harding, in Spence's Anecdotes, ed. Singer, p. 256.

The paintings, eight in number (by Sir James Thornhill), represent the principal events in the life of St. Paul. They were never worth much, and the little interest that attached to them as Thornhill's works was destroyed when they were repainted in 1853. Wren was opposed from the first to painting the cupola with these heavy masses of monochrome. It was his wish to have decorated the cupola with the more durable ornament of mosaic work, but in this he was overruled. Observe.—In the choir the beautiful foliage, carved by Grinling Gibbons, and the inscription to Wren, originally over the entrance to the choir, but now on the inner porch of the north transept, ending with the line, "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice." It was first set up by Robert Mylne, architect to the Cathedral. The organ (1694) was constructed by Bernard Schmydt, the successful candidate against Harris at the Temple. It originally stood on the screen at the entrance to the choir, but is now divided and placed on each side over the stalls. The rails of the golden gallery were gilt at the expense of the Earl of Lanesborough, the "sober Lanesborough dancing with the gout" of Pope.

The chief monuments in the Cathedral are as follows:—Statue of John Howard, the philanthropist, by Bacon, R.A. (cost 1300 guineas, and was the first monument erected in St. Paul's); statue of Dr. Johnson, by Bacon, R.A.; statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Flaxman, R.A.; Turner, our greatest landscape painter, by Baily, R.A.; kneeling figure of Bishop Heber, by Chantrey, R.A.; monument to Nelson, by Flaxman, R.A. (the hero's lost arm concealed by the Union Jack of England); monument to Lord Cornwallis, opposite, by Rossi, R.A. (the Indian river-gods much admired); monument to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, by Sir R. Westmacott, R.A.; General Sir Charles Napier, the conqueror of Scinde, and not far from him his brother Sir William, the author of the History of the Peninsular War; Sir Henry Lawrence, of Lucknow fame; Lord Melbourne the minister, and his brother the diplomatist, by Baron Marochetti; and Hallam the historian; monument to Sir John Moore, who fell at Corunna (Marshal Soult stood before this monument and wept); statue of Lord Heathfield, the gallant defender of Gibraltar; monuments to Howe and Rodney, two of our great naval heroes; monument to Nelson's favourite, the brave and pious Lord Collingwood; statue of Earl St. Vincent, the hero of the battle of Cape St. Vincent; Lord Duncan, the victor of Camperdown, and Captain Burges, who fell in that fight; Captain Mosse and "the gallant good Riou," who fell at Copenhagen, and many other of our naval heroes; monuments to Picton and Ponsonby, who fell at Waterloo; statues of Sir William Jones, the Oriental scholar; Sir Astley Cooper, the surgeon; Dr. Babington, the physician; and Lord Lyons. The monument to the Duke of Wellington, by A. Stevens, in the chapel at the west end of the south aisle, a most elaborate renaissance structure, was more than twenty years in hand, partly owing to the ill-health and mental idiosyncrasy of the artist, but also largely to the complex and difficult character of the work. It is a remarkable and beautiful production, but is seen with difficulty and at a great disadvantage in its present very unsuitable position. There are fine tombs with recumbent effigies of Bishops Blomfield and Jackson, Dean Milman and General Gordon. The monument of Dr. Donne, saved from the old cathedral—an effigy of the form of Donne, wrapped in his sepulchral shroud, has been (1873) removed from the crypt and placed in an alcove in the south-east aisle.

The crypt of St. Paul's, unlike the crypts of most other cathedrals, extends under the entire building, and is one of the most extensive and massive in structure extant. A portion of it was fitted up in 1877 as a chapel for the early morning service. In the crypt, Observe.—Grave of Sir Christopher Wren (d. 1723, aged ninety-one). Grave of Lord Nelson (d. 1805). The sarcophagus which contains Nelson's coffin was made at the expense of Cardinal Wolsey, for the burial of Henry VIII. in the tomb-house at Windsor; and the coffin which contains the body (made of part of the mainmast of the ship L'Orient], was a present to Nelson after the battle of the Nile, from his friend Ben Hallowell, captain of the Swiftsure. "I send it," says Hallowell, "that when you are tired of this life you may be buried in one of your own trophies." Nelson appreciated the present, and for some time had it placed upright, with the lid on, against the bulk-head of his cabin, behind the chair on which he sat at dinner. In a neighbouring alcove the sarcophagus which contains the remains of Wellington. The sarcophagus, grand in its simplicity, was wrought with infinite patience from a matchless block of Cornish porphyry. Grave of Sir John Collingwood (d. 1810), commander of the larboard division at the battle of Trafalgar. Graves of the following celebrated English painters—Sir Joshua Reynolds (d. 1792); Sir Thomas Lawrence (d. 1830); James Barry (d. 1806); John Opie (d. 1807); Benjamin West (d. 1820); Henry Fuseli (d. 1825); Joseph Mallord William Turner (d. 1851). Graves of the following eminent engineers—Robert Mylne, who built Blackfriars Bridge (d. 1811); John Rennie, who built Waterloo Bridge (d. 1821). Monuments from Old St. Paul's, preserved in the crypt of the present building—Dean Colet, founder of St. Paul's School; Sir Nicholas Bacon, father of the great Francis Bacon; and Sir Christopher Hatton, Queen Elizabeth's Lord Chancellor.

Ascent.—The ascent to the ball is by 616 steps, of which the first 260 are easy, and well lighted. Here the Whispering Gallery will give the visitor breath; but the rest of the ascent is a somewhat fatiguing task. Clock Room.—In the south-western tower is the clock, and the great bell on which it strikes. The length of the minute hand of the clock is 8 feet, and its weight 75 Ibs.; the length of the hour hand is 5 feet 5 inches, and its weight 44 lbs. The diameter of the bell is about 10 feet, and its weight is generally stated at 4¼ tons. It is inscribed, "Richard Phelps made me, 1716," and is never used except for the striking of the hour, and for tolling at the deaths and funerals of any of the royal family, the Bishops of London, the Deans of St. Paul's, and should he die in his mayoralty, the Lord Mayor. The larger part of the metal of which it is made formed "Great Tom of Westminster," once in the Clock Tower at Westminster. It had long been a matter of regret and complaint that the Cathedral should be without a peal of bells, and in 1877 several of the City Companies, in conjunction with the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, determined to provide it with a complete peal of twelve bells. They were cast by Messrs. Taylor of Loughborough, weighed together about 11 tons, and cost £6000. The 1st and 2d bells were presented by the Drapers' Company; the 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts and the Turners' Company; the 7th by the Salters'; the 8th by the Merchant Taylors'; the 9th by the Fishmongers'; the 10th by the Cloth workers'; the 11th by the Grocers' Company; and the 12th and largest by the Corporation. Each bell is inscribed with the motto of the donors, and with the arms of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. They are hung in the north-west campanile, and ring out a full sweet peal. A new bell (Great Paul), weighing 17 tons, cast by Messrs. Taylor of Loughborough, was safely hauled into its place in the south-west campanile in May 1882.

The Library is not very valuable. The Whispering Gallery is so called because the slightest whisper is transmitted from one side of the gallery to the other with great rapidity and distinctness. The Stone Gallery is an outer gallery, and affords a fine view of London on a clear day. The Inner Golden Gallery is at the apex of the cupola and base of the lantern. The Outer Golden Gallery is at the apex of the dome. Here a noble view of London may be obtained if the ascent is made early in the morning, and on a clear day. The Ball and Cross stand on a cone between the cupola and dome. The construction is very interesting, and will well repay attention. The ball is 6 feet 2 inches in diameter, and will contain eight persons, "without," it is said, "particular incon-venience." This, however, may well be doubted. The weight of the ball is stated to be 5600 lbs., and that of the cross (to which there is no entrance), 3360 lbs.

The unadorned condition of the interior of St. Paul's, so different from the intention of the architect, who wished to line the cupola with mosaics by the best artists of Italy, and to place in compartments below "bas-reliefs and suchlike decorations," and complained that through insufficient funds "his wings were clipt, and the Church was deprived of its ornaments," had frequently forced itself on those interested in the worthy appearance of the fabric and its adequate employment as a great central church for public worship. Nothing practical was done, however, till the beginning of 1858, when the Bishop of London addressed a letter to the Dean and Chapter urging upon them "the advisability of instituting a series of special evening services for the benefit of those large masses of the people whom it might be impossible to attract in any other way." To this Dean Milman promptly replied, expressing for himself and the Chapter their "earnest, unanimous, and sincere desire to co-operate to the utmost of their power" in the proposed object, but showing that "the scantiness of the funds at their disposal" rendered them unable to accomplish it without extraneous help. But he further avowed the desire that "instead of the dull, cold, unedifying, unseemly appearance of the interior, the Cathedral should be made within worthy of its exterior grandeur and beauty." An appeal was made to the public, and sufficient funds obtained to fit the space under the dome for public service, to provide a magnificent organ for these special services and ceremonials, and to warm the cathedral throughout, with the result that "immense congregations of earnest and devout worshippers throng to the Cathedral, throughout even the wildest, coldest, nights of the winter months."¹ On these improvements about £10,000 were expended. A like sum was spent on ornamental alterations and decorations, but with a less satisfactory result. In 1871 an "iconographic scheme" by Burges was laid before the Executive Committee, and made public, for the complete and systematic decoration of the interior; but it proposed to overlay every part with a profusion of seraphim and cherubim with wings and bodies "fiery red" or celestial blue, princedoms, thrones and powers, archangels in armour, and angels "dressed as deacons," saints and confessors. The designs are in the Chapter House. This, in common with some other schemes of decoration, did not meet with general approval. Nothing more was formally done till June 1877, when the Executive Committee met and passed a resolution—

That it is desirable, with the funds now in hand, about £40,000, to carry into effect as far as possible the wishes of Sir Christopher Wren, by decorating the dome of St. Paul's with mosaic, in a similar style to the dome of St. Peter's at Rome.

A sub-committee was appointed to devise the best means of giving effect to this resolution: but little has since been done.

The elaborate reredos, which cost £37,000, and took eighteen months to erect, was unveiled on January 25, 1888.

The space within the railings on the north and east sides of the cathedral has been planted and laid out as a public garden, and from it some picturesque views of portions of the fabric may be obtained. When the ground was being dug over for the formation of the garden, Mr. F.C. Penrose, the architect to the Dean and Chapter, seized the opportunity to institute a careful search for any traces of the old cathedral. He came upon walls and buttresses of the cloisters and chapter-house, and was able to make out the general direction of the main structure, the central line of which, though not due east and west, inclined much less to the north-east than that of the present cathedral. He also discovered the foundations of the famous St. Paul's Cross, the site of which and the outline of its base he has marked by a stone pavement at the north-east angle of the cathedral. In the public procession to St. Paul's on occasion of the general thanksgiving for peace, Thursday, July 7, 1814, the Duke of Wellington carried the sword of state before the Prince Regent. The next public procession to St. Paul's was when the Duke of Wellington was himself carried to his grave, November 18, 1852. The latest was on February 27, 1872, when the Queen attended in state to join in the general public thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales.

Services.—On Sundays, Good Friday, Ascension Day, and Christmas Day: Holy Communion (north-west chapel) 8; Morning Service, with Holy Communion, choral, 10.30; Evening Service, 3.15 and 7. On week days, except Good Friday, Ascension Day, and Christmas Day: Holy Communion (north-west chapel) 8; Morning Prayer (crypt chapel) 8; Morning Prayer, choral, 10; Short Service (north-west chapel) 1.15. Evening Prayer, choral, 4; Short Service (north-west chapel) 8. Unless otherwise stated the services are held in the choir, the entire area of the cathedral being available for worshippers. On St. Paul's Day, January 25, a selection from Mendelssohn's oratorio of St. Paul is performed with a full orchestra and a largely augmented choir, and on Tuesday in Holy Week Bach's Passion Music is given in like manner. During Lent the mid-day service is held in the choir, when a course of sermons, each course lasting a week, are given by eminent preachers. The services are always well-attended, about 800 persons being generally present at the daily evensong. Under Sir John Stainer, who was organist for several years, the services attained a high degree of musical excellence. On the Fridays in Lent the service is sung without the organ, and is well worth hearing. The annual meeting of the children of the Charity Schools of London has been discontinued since 1867, in consequence of the interruption to the service, rendered necessary by the erection of a huge gallery round the dome area. Haydn said that the most powerful impression he ever received from music was from their singing of the "Old Hundredth."

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¹ Longman's Three Cathedrals of St. Paul, p. 29, etc.
² Stow, p. 138.
³ Ibid., p. 123.
⁴ Stow, p. 124.
⁵ There is a large engraving of it by H. Hulsbergh, executed at the expense of the Earl of Burlington.

¹ Harl. MS. 4941. Commission dated April 18, 1663. All subscriptions to be paid to Sir John Cutler ("His Grace's fate sage Cutler could foresee").
² Dugdale, ed. 1658, p. 47.
³ Milman, Annals of St. Paul's Cathedral, p. 376.

¹ "There is a tradition that in times past there was one Inne of Court at Dowgate, called Johnson's Inn; another in Fetter Lane; and another in Paternoster Row: which last they would prove because it was next to St. Paul's Church where each Lawyer and Serjeant at his Pillar heard his client's cause, and took notes thereof upon his knee as they do in Guildhall at this day. And that after the Serjeants' Feast ended they do still go to Paul's in their habits, and there choose their Pillar whereat to hear their client's cause (if any come) in memory of that old custom."—Dugdale's Orig. Jurid., ed. 1680, p. 142. "The xvij day of October [1552] was made vii. serjants of the coyffe: and after dener they went unto Powlls and so went up the stepes and so round the qwere and ther dyd they ther homage, and so [to] the north-syd of Powlles and stod a-pone the stepes ontil iiij old serjantes came to-gether and feytchyd iiij [new] and brought them unto certen pelers and left them, and then did feyched the residue unto the pelers."—Diary of a Resident in London, 4to, 1848, p. 26.
² Pierce Penniless, p. 42. Every Man out of his Humour, Act iii. Sc. I. Hall's Satires, B. ii. Sat. 5.

¹ Ed. 1658, p. 160.
² Strype's Lond., B. iii. p. 169.

¹ Ben Jonson's Epigrams, No. cxxxiii.
² Love's Labour's Lost.


¹ Dean Milman's Annals of St. Paul's, p. 497.