Walking towards St Paul’s Cathedral was not quite our road to Damascus,
however we kept on being distracted by other sights on the way.
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Queen Victoria Street:
The “Walkie-Talkie” skyscraper in the horizon,
an oval Royal Mail pillar box with the royal cypher of King George V (GR 1910-1936) on the right, the College of Arms gate and courtyard on the left. |
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The College of Arms: official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand. It advises on peerage, grants new coats of arms, maintains registers of genealogies, flags, etc.
17th – 18th century building. The original college building was destroyed in the 1666 Great Fire of London. The gates were put up in 1956, and came from Goodrich Court, Herefordshire.
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From Cannon Street:
On the left, St Nicholas Cole Abbey, which was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren in 1681 after the Great Fire. It was hit by German bombings during WWII and had to be reconstructed in 1962.
On the right, the St Lawrence and Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain featuring bronze statues of St Lawrence (as seen here) and St Mary Magdalene (on the other side). It has been here since 2010. Dating from 1866, it was originally outside the Church of St Lawrence Jewry (another church rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren - ½ mile from here, in the City of London financial district). In the 1970s, the fountain was dismantled into 150 pieces, put in a vault, then stored in a farm barn… until 2009, when it was reassembled.
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| Yet another of Sir Christopher Wren’s designs after the Great Fire: the tower of the destroyed church called St Augustine Watling Street (1687). It is all that survives from the WWII bombing and this is now part of the choir school for St Paul's Cathedral (a 1967 building). |
“I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” Paul
A History of St
Paul’s Cathedral:
As described in previous posts, the view of St Paul’s
Cathedral from various angles is now protected by law and planning is set
according to this “protected vista” and height restrictions.
Such is the iconic value of this place of worship.
In the 20th century, it has been the location chosen to
celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee services (1977, 2002, 2012) and also the
wedding of Charles Prince of Wales and Lady Diana (1981) and, the century
before that, Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee celebrations (1897).
It is incredible that the current cathedral survived The
Blitz of WWII, although it was hit by bombs several times (one device was
successfully removed by two bomb disposal officers who were awarded the George
Cross); in 1940, Churchill did order all fire services in London to protect it
from destruction, he saw the Cathedral as an important symbol or beacon for the
spirit of the nation. Sir Winston Churchill’s funerals took place here.
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photo published in the Daily Mail on December 29th
1940
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St Paul’s Cathedral has been built on the highest point
in the capital: Ludgate Hill.
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Ludgate Evening by Irish painter John O’Connor in 1887
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The dome is amongst the tallest in the world and is 30.8
metres in diameter.
St Paul’s Cathedral is the second largest church in the
United Kingdom (after Liverpool Cathedral).
Its overall height is 111 metres and until 1967, it was
the tallest building in London.
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19th century
engraving by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd
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St Paul’s Cathedral is Anglican and the seat of the
Bishop of London.
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18th century engraving by J M Mueller
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It is described as “English Baroque” in style and was
designed by Sir Christopher Wren, after he drew several ideas, including a
Greek-cross shaped church, instead of a Latin cross, and one with a
pagoda-style spire instead of a dome.
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| Greek Cross design, by Wren |
Construction started in 1675 and was officially finished
on Christmas Day 1711, but some items were added in the 1720s. The building was
financed by a tax on coal.
The current St Paul’s Cathedral replaces a medieval one,
of the same name, that got destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666.
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1650s old St Paul's Cathedral, drawning by Wenceslaus Hollar
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In fact, Wren had been asked to restore the Old St Paul’s
Cathedral, after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and he had suggested a
demolition as he did not favour the old Gothic style.
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| 1650s Old St Paul's Cathedral, drawing by Wenceslaus Hollar |
During the English Civil War (1642–1651), Old St Paul’s
Cathedral had been the victim of the Parliamentarians and Cromwell’s disdain,
with the nave been used as a stable, other elements destroyed and some material
used to improve Somerset House.
Before that, in the 1630s, the architect Indigo Jones had
started to add a classical-style portico on the west front.
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1630s Old St Paul's west portico, drawing by Wenceslaus
Hollar
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That was after, Old St Paul’s Cathedral lost its old
spire of 1221 in a fire cause by lightning, in 1561. It had been one of
Europe’s tallest spire (145 metres approx.)
It had become Anglican after the 16th c. Reformation,
after having been attacked and the decorations vandalised with the incitement
of Protestant preachers.
13th century work had extended Old St Paul’s Cathedral to
179 metres long, making it longer and wider at the transepts than even the
current St Paul’s Cathedral. The nave with vaulted ceiling was nicknamed Paul’s
Walk. The interior was renowned for its beauty (stained glass, Rose Window,
shrine of St Erkenwald, tombs.)
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Old St Paul's before the 1561 fire (1916 engraving)
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This medieval cathedral had taken more than 150 years to build.
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1550s copperplate of St Pavle
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Consecrated in 1240, it had become Early-Gothic in style
in 1135, when damage, caused by a fire that spread from London Bridge,
interrupted the construction.
In 1087, William The Conqueror, Norman King of England,
had commissioned a Romanesque cathedral before he died.
It was also a fire that had led to the construction in
1087 of this 4th cathedral… A previous one had been lost to the flames of the
1087 fire that destroyed much of London.
The 3 previous churches on this site are all believed to
have also been dedicated to Paul the Apostle - the first of these churches, as
far back as AD 604.
Wren’s influences were: the plan of medieval
churches, but with the elegant style of 16th c.
Palladio and 17th c. Indigo Jones’s classical
lines, with also features from 17th c. Italian
Baroque and 17th c. French Mansart… That is a lot of styles and indeed, there are many
ornamental details to look at on the exterior (it was too late to view the
interior).
Walking up from The Thames, as we did, we first approached
the south faƧade of St Paul’s Cathedral. We then wandered around this imposing
building anticlockwise, before exiting the area through Festival Gardens.
Aligned with the dome, the side door of the south faƧade is behind a semi-circular portico with Corinthian columns.
Above the first floor is a pediment with a tympanum decorated with the relief of a Phoenix and the word “Resurgam” (meaning “Again” as in “I shall rise again.”)
There are statues on the roof, above the pediments, on 3 sides of the cathedral. They represent the Apostles and the four Evangelists. I read that each statue is 3.7 metres high and some were sculpted by Francis Bird.
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| Top storey: Classical style. Blind windows are niches with pediments on columns, all soberly blank. Underneath each one, a small window can be seen. Ground storey: Roman style moulding around the windows with a cherub as a keystone. Exquisitely detailed sculpted floral swag underneath these large windows. |
On this south faƧade, the statues are apparently, from
left to right:
St Simon The Zealot (with a saw, as he may have been sawn
in half), St Matthias (with a halbert, his martyrdom weapon), St Andrew (with a
cross, as he was crucified on an X-shaped cross), St John The Apostle (with a
chalice), St Matthew (with a scroll or a torch?)
There are no visible buttresses here, as they would not have been in the style desired. Instead, for strength, the walls are very thick. Nonetheless, there are flying buttresses hidden behind extra sham walls on the upper storey. This allows for no view of the roof, only vertical walls, with two storeys, the top one stacked up onto the ground floor one. From a distance, it all appears to emphasize the dome.
A few facts about the dome:
There are in fact two domes on top of each other with,
in-between, a brick cone – itself fitted with iron chains to stop it from
developing cracks. There are stairs between the brick cone and the outer dome
to get access to the lantern.
The dome sits above a circular peristyle, an area with arches and columns - though one cannot take a walk all around, as there is a niche blocking the way, in every fourth gap.
The dome sits above a circular peristyle, an area with arches and columns - though one cannot take a walk all around, as there is a niche blocking the way, in every fourth gap.
The outer dome is covered with lead – the spacing of the
panels stylishly matches the pilasters and windows below. On that level is a
balcony known as The Stone Gallery (at 53 metres from the cathedral floor).
At the top of the lead dome are 8 openings that let light through, and this can be seen inside the cathedral, at the apex of the interior dome, through an ocular opening.
Above the dome is the square lantern, which rises in different levels. The lantern alone weighs approximately 850 tons. Accessed by the 528 steps mentioned previously, the balcony (at 85 metres) is called The Golden Gallery and visitors can be seen on some of the photos I took earlier in the day. At balcony level, the lantern looks like a miniature temple with columns, the four sides facing South, East, North and West. Above that is a smaller dome and finally a golden ball surmounted by a golden cross – both dating from 1821 and measuring 7 metres in height (the original ball and cross had been made by an armorer in 1708).
At the top of the lead dome are 8 openings that let light through, and this can be seen inside the cathedral, at the apex of the interior dome, through an ocular opening.
Inside the cathedral is the famous Whispering Gallery,
which runs around the interior of the dome (30 metres from the floor) – one
whisper against the wall can be heard on the opposite side of the wide
structure.
While walking around the churchyard, in the shade of the
110 metre tall vertical stone walls, the eye is drawn towards the sky and one
then notices all the ornamental carving - around the windows and the many empty
niches (such as cherubic keystones) and at the top of pilasters (Corinthian style
on the ground floor, Composite on the top floor, carved garland under the
cornice of extremely fine swag of foliage and fruit). From here, one cannot see
the balustrade at the top, which Christopher Wren did not want to add.
Everywhere I looked, there were cherub faces, some maybe less angelic than
others.
Little detour # 1 - I have
posted pictures of the statues, sculptures and monuments we saw in the
churchyard, in this separate post (John Donne, Becket, Paul’s Cross, The People
of London Memorial) http://gherkinscall.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/st-pauls-churchyard-sculptures-monuments.html
The eastern end of St Paul’s Cathedral, leading to the north churchyard.
St Paul’s Cathedral houses the largest crypt in Europe; it occupies the area under the whole church. Although, half the space is for supporting piers, needed for strength, as the cathedral is built on soft clay soil.
The crypt can be rented for receptions and dinner parties (for up to 350 guests!) One can also have a drinks reception in Nelson’s Chamber, a rotunda in the crypt with the funeral monument of Lord Nelson in the centre!
The Duke of Wellington was also buried in the crypt. Lord Nelson (in 1806), the Duke of Wellington (in 1852) and Sir Winston Churchill (in 1965) are the only non-royal Britons to have been honoured with a state funeral, and they all took place here (though Churchill was buried in Oxfordshire).
The vast crypt also contains the tombstone of Sir Christopher Wren (died in 1723), a memorial plaque to painter John Constable (died in 1837), the tomb of painter J.M.W. Turner (died in 1851).
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| Spire of St Augustine Watling Street |
I was surprised to read that the North Churchyard can be booked for outdoor receptions and BBQs.
The north faƧade is a duplicate version of the south facing one, with a semi-circular porch and Corinthian columns – only the sculpted decoration is different.
The five statues above that, are supposedly (from left to right):
St Bartholomew ? (though he seems to be holding one of the rocks piled up beside him), St Jude Thaddeus, St James The Lesser with a club (the weapon he was killed with after being stoned), St Thomas with a carpentry square, St Philip with a cross (his martyrdom).
The west front of the cathedral is where the processional entrance is situated, it is therefore more ornate. The porch is a projecting Classical portico with columns set in pairs - it is as wide as the two aisles plus the nave. This is surmounted by a smaller similar portico – the width of the nave and perfectly lined up with it, of course.
Although, there is great harmony in the walls and windows following the same patterns all around the building, they are not exactly the same on this side.
Here too, there is sculpted work by Francis Bird (done between 1718 and 1721), such as the relief on the tympanum above the columns of the first storey. It represents The Conversion of St Paul and features eight men and some horses.
Above that pediment are the statues of (from left to right, when facing the cathedral): St Peter with a rooster, St Paul with the sword that beheaded him (on the apex), St James The Greater.
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| St Matthew |
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| St Mark |
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| St Luke |
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| St John |
Each of the two bell towers is capped by a bell-shaped dome with, on top of that, a gilded pineapple, symbol of peace, hospitality and prosperity. These details perfectly match the lead dome and its golden cross.
The north-west tower has no clock but there is an empty oculus instead.
The north-west tower contains the original Communion Bell of 1700 (this “service bell” is nicknamed The Banger and is rung at 8 am before morning service) and a peal of 12 “change ringing” bells, cast in 1878 and forming the second largest ring of bells in the world (the largest, tenor bell, weights over 3 tons).
The north-west tower contains the original Communion Bell of 1700 (this “service bell” is nicknamed The Banger and is rung at 8 am before morning service) and a peal of 12 “change ringing” bells, cast in 1878 and forming the second largest ring of bells in the world (the largest, tenor bell, weights over 3 tons).
The south-west tower contains four bells, 3 are called “clock bells” because they ring the time.
Two quarter jacks (to ring on the quarter-hour) cast in 1707 and still used today (respectively 1½ metre in diameter and 1,800 kg in weight, and 1 metre in diameter and 660 kg in weight).
Great Tom is from the same period – it had to be recast after it was damaged while being transported from its original location at The Palace of Westminster (bell donated by king William III). Great Tom is the hour bell (rings the hour) and tolls in the case of the deaths of the Dean of St Paul, the Lord Mayor of London, the Bishop of London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, or in the Royal Family.
Great Paul (the bourdon) was cast in 1881 and until 2012 was the largest bell in the British Isles. It weighs about 17 tons and is nearly 3 metres in diameter. It used to swing at 1 pm each day, but I read that the chiming mechanism is broken.
The large statue in front of the cathedral, slightly to the right of it, at the head of Ludgate Hill, and with a black iron fence around its imposing pedestal, is Queen Anne. She was the reigning monarch at the time of the cathedral's completion in 1712 (AR 1702-1714). She came here to celebrate military victory over French King Louis XIV.
Francis Bird carved the original sculpture in Carrara marble, but it was replaced by a replica in 1885 (by Richard Belt). The original statue of Queen Anne (which weighed seven tons) with the four figures on the base (four tons each) are in Sussex, at Holmhurst – travel writer Augustus Hare rescued the abandoned monument from destruction in the 19th c. He found it in a mason’s yard and described the replica as made of stone. Somewhere else, I read it is Sicilian marble with bronze attributes and a pedestal in Portland stone.
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| Statues on the base, from left to right: The American Colonies, Britannia and the shield, France |
Britannia has her hand on a large shield with the Queen’s royal arms, which featured the fleur de lys (signifying France).
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| Statues on the base: France (left), Ireland (right) |
This side gate leads to the South Churchyard, a garden opened in 2008.
The features (here only glimpsed from a distance) are laid out right above the actual remains of the medieval Chapter House (built in 1332) which still lie buried, one metre or so, below.
The stonework around the benches follows the octagonal outline of the Chapter House and is made of the same Purbeck stone. On the ground, in tiling, is a floor-plan of the Old Cathedral, with the shape of the present one, superimposed.
We had spent one and a half hour walking around and admiring this ginormous cathedral and we exited the area via Festival Gardens, on its south-east side, in order to pursue our goal: finding at least one gherkin before nightfall – one cannot make a descent cheese sandwich without it…
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| The Shard from St Paul's Cathedral south-west corner. |
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| St Paul's Cathedral reflected on a sash window, on Bankside, south bank of the Thames, where Sir Christopher Wren may or may not have resided... |
