St Paul
Content
St Paul's Cathedral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about St Paul's cathedral in London, England. For other cathedrals of the same name, see St. Paul's Cathedral (disambiguation).
St Paul's
Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle
51°30′49″N 0°05′53″WCoordinates:
51°30′49″N 0°05′53″W
Location Country Denomination Website City of London United Kingdom Church of England www.stpauls.co.uk History Consecrated 1708 Architecture Previous cathedrals Architect(s) Style Years built 4 Sir Christopher Wren English Baroque 1675-1720 Specifications Length 518ft (158m)
Nave width Width across transepts Height Dome height (outer) Dome height (inner) Dome diameter (outer) Dome diameter (inner) Number of towers Tower height
121ft (37m) 246ft (75m) 365ft (111m) 278ft (85m) 225ft (68m) 112ft (34m) 102ft (31m) 2 221ft (67m) Administration
Diocese Province
London (since 604) Canterbury Clergy
Bishop(s) Dean Precentor Canon Chancellor Canon Pastor Canon Treasurer
Richard Chartres David Ison Michael Hampel Mark Oakley Michael Colclough Philippa Boardman Laity
Director of music
Andrew Carwood
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.[1] The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style bySir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed within Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London.[2] The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years.[3] At 365 feet
(111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral. St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population. [4] It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz.[4] Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals ofLord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations forQueen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for the Golden Jubilee, the 80th Birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
o o o
1.1 Pre-Norman cathedrals 1.2 Old St Paul's 1.3 Present St Paul's
1.3.1 Consecration 1.4.1 War damage 1.4.2 Restoration 1.4.3 Occupy London
o
1.4 Since 1900
2 Ministry
o
2.1 Dean and chapter
2.1.1 College of Minor Canons 2.2.1 Organ 2.2.2 Choir
o
2.2 Music
3 Wren's cathedral
o o o
3.1 Development of the design 3.2 Structural engineering 3.3 Designers, builders and craftsmen 4.1 Exterior
4 Description
o
o
4.1.1 Dome 4.1.2 West front 4.1.3 Walls 4.2.1 Dome 4.2.2 Apse
4.2 Interior
o o
4.3 Artworks, tombs and memorials 4.4 Clock and bells 5.1 Interpretation Project
5 Education, tourism and the arts
o
5.1.1 Charges for sightseers
o o
5.2 St Paul's Cathedral Arts Project 5.3 Depictions of St Paul's
5.3.1 Photography and film
6 See also 7 References 8 External links
History[edit]
Pre-Norman cathedrals[edit]
There was a late-Roman episcopal see in London, and Bishop Restitutus of London attended the Council of Arles in AD 314. The location of Roman London's cathedral is unknown, although it has been argued that a large and ornate 4th-century building on Tower Hill, remains of which were excavated in 1989, may have been the cathedral.[5][6] The Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Diana had once stood on the site of the medieval St Paul's cathedral.[7] Christopher Wren reported that he had found no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire, and Camden's hypothesis is not accepted by modern archaeologists.[8] Bede records that in AD 604 St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the AngloSaxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a church dedicated to St Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop.[9] It is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the later medieval and the present cathedrals. On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his pagan sons expelled Mellitus from London, and the East Saxons reverted to paganism. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown. Christianity was restored among the East Saxons in the late 7th-century and it is presumed that either the Anglo-
Saxon cathedral was restored or a new building erected as the seat of bishops such as Cedd, Wine and Earconwald, the last of whom was buried in the cathedral in 693. This building, or a successor, was destroyed by fire in 962, but rebuilt in the same year.[10] King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016. The cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[10]
Old St Paul's[edit]
Main article: Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's prior to 1561, with intact spire
The fourth St Paul's, generally referred to as Old St Paul's, was begun by the Normansafter the 1087 fire. A further fire in 1136 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. During the period of construction, the style of architecture had changed from Romanesque to Gothic and this was reflected in the pointed arches and larger windows of the upper parts and East End of the building. The Gothic ribbed vault was constructed, like that of York Minster, of wood rather than stone, which affected the ultimate fate of the building. An enlargement program commenced in 1256. This 'New Work' was consecrated in 1300 but not complete until 1314. During the later Medieval period St Paul's was exceeded in length only by the Abbey Church of Cluny and in the height of its spire only by Lincoln Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Stralsund. Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide (290 feet or 87 m across the transepts and crossing). The spire was about 489 feet (149 m). By the 16th century the building was starting to decay. Under Henry VIII 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 former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were
often Puritans. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning, an event that was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics as a sign of God's displeasure at the other faction. In the 1630s a west front was added to the building by England's first classical architect, Inigo Jones. There was much defacing and mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, and the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed.[11] During the Commonwealth, those churchyard buildings that were razed supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace,Somerset House. Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross, where open-air preaching took place. In the Great Fire of London of 1666, Old St Pauls was gutted. While it might have been possible to reconstruct it, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style. This course of action had been proposed even before the fire.
Present St Paul's[edit]
An aerial view of St Paul's
The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669.[12] He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than fifty City churches are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was enagaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.[13] Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Paul's in 1661, five years before the Great Fire of London in 1666.[14] The proposed work included renovations to both interior and exterior that would complement the Classical facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630.[15] Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existent structure as a scaffold. It was at this time that he first envisaged building a dome that spanned the aisles as well as the nave.[citation needed] After the fire,
It was at first though possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh. In July 1668 Dean William Sancroft wrote to Christopher Wren that he was charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in agreement with the Bishops of London and Oxford to design a new cathedral that was "handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation".[16] The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Paul's Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain and with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world.[17] The building was financed by a tax on coal, and was completed within its architect's lifetime, and with many of the major contractors employed for the duration.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about St Paul's cathedral in London, England. For other cathedrals of the same name, see St. Paul's Cathedral (disambiguation).
St Paul's
Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle
51°30′49″N 0°05′53″WCoordinates:
51°30′49″N 0°05′53″W
Location Country Denomination Website City of London United Kingdom Church of England www.stpauls.co.uk History Consecrated 1708 Architecture Previous cathedrals Architect(s) Style Years built 4 Sir Christopher Wren English Baroque 1675-1720 Specifications Length 518ft (158m)
Nave width Width across transepts Height Dome height (outer) Dome height (inner) Dome diameter (outer) Dome diameter (inner) Number of towers Tower height
121ft (37m) 246ft (75m) 365ft (111m) 278ft (85m) 225ft (68m) 112ft (34m) 102ft (31m) 2 221ft (67m) Administration
Diocese Province
London (since 604) Canterbury Clergy
Bishop(s) Dean Precentor Canon Chancellor Canon Pastor Canon Treasurer
Richard Chartres David Ison Michael Hampel Mark Oakley Michael Colclough Philippa Boardman Laity
Director of music
Andrew Carwood
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.[1] The present church, dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style bySir Christopher Wren. Its construction, completed within Wren's lifetime, was part of a major rebuilding program which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London.[2] The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years.[3] At 365 feet
(111 m) high, it was the tallest building in London from 1710 to 1962, and its dome is also among the highest in the world. In terms of area, St Paul's is the second largest church building in the United Kingdom after Liverpool Cathedral. St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population. [4] It is the central subject of much promotional material, as well as postcard images of the dome standing tall, surrounded by the smoke and fire of the Blitz.[4] Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals ofLord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations forQueen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for the Golden Jubilee, the 80th Birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.
Contents
[hide]
1 History
o o o
1.1 Pre-Norman cathedrals 1.2 Old St Paul's 1.3 Present St Paul's
1.3.1 Consecration 1.4.1 War damage 1.4.2 Restoration 1.4.3 Occupy London
o
1.4 Since 1900
2 Ministry
o
2.1 Dean and chapter
2.1.1 College of Minor Canons 2.2.1 Organ 2.2.2 Choir
o
2.2 Music
3 Wren's cathedral
o o o
3.1 Development of the design 3.2 Structural engineering 3.3 Designers, builders and craftsmen 4.1 Exterior
4 Description
o
o
4.1.1 Dome 4.1.2 West front 4.1.3 Walls 4.2.1 Dome 4.2.2 Apse
4.2 Interior
o o
4.3 Artworks, tombs and memorials 4.4 Clock and bells 5.1 Interpretation Project
5 Education, tourism and the arts
o
5.1.1 Charges for sightseers
o o
5.2 St Paul's Cathedral Arts Project 5.3 Depictions of St Paul's
5.3.1 Photography and film
6 See also 7 References 8 External links
History[edit]
Pre-Norman cathedrals[edit]
There was a late-Roman episcopal see in London, and Bishop Restitutus of London attended the Council of Arles in AD 314. The location of Roman London's cathedral is unknown, although it has been argued that a large and ornate 4th-century building on Tower Hill, remains of which were excavated in 1989, may have been the cathedral.[5][6] The Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden argued that a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Diana had once stood on the site of the medieval St Paul's cathedral.[7] Christopher Wren reported that he had found no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire, and Camden's hypothesis is not accepted by modern archaeologists.[8] Bede records that in AD 604 St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the AngloSaxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a church dedicated to St Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop.[9] It is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the later medieval and the present cathedrals. On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his pagan sons expelled Mellitus from London, and the East Saxons reverted to paganism. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown. Christianity was restored among the East Saxons in the late 7th-century and it is presumed that either the Anglo-
Saxon cathedral was restored or a new building erected as the seat of bishops such as Cedd, Wine and Earconwald, the last of whom was buried in the cathedral in 693. This building, or a successor, was destroyed by fire in 962, but rebuilt in the same year.[10] King Æthelred the Unready was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016. The cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a fire in 1087, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[10]
Old St Paul's[edit]
Main article: Old St Paul's Cathedral
Old St Paul's prior to 1561, with intact spire
The fourth St Paul's, generally referred to as Old St Paul's, was begun by the Normansafter the 1087 fire. A further fire in 1136 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. During the period of construction, the style of architecture had changed from Romanesque to Gothic and this was reflected in the pointed arches and larger windows of the upper parts and East End of the building. The Gothic ribbed vault was constructed, like that of York Minster, of wood rather than stone, which affected the ultimate fate of the building. An enlargement program commenced in 1256. This 'New Work' was consecrated in 1300 but not complete until 1314. During the later Medieval period St Paul's was exceeded in length only by the Abbey Church of Cluny and in the height of its spire only by Lincoln Cathedral and St. Mary's Church, Stralsund. Excavations by Francis Penrose in 1878 showed that it was 585 feet (178 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide (290 feet or 87 m across the transepts and crossing). The spire was about 489 feet (149 m). By the 16th century the building was starting to decay. Under Henry VIII 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 former religious sites in the churchyard, having been seized by the Crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were
often Puritans. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning, an event that was taken by both Protestants and Roman Catholics as a sign of God's displeasure at the other faction. In the 1630s a west front was added to the building by England's first classical architect, Inigo Jones. There was much defacing and mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War, and the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed.[11] During the Commonwealth, those churchyard buildings that were razed supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace,Somerset House. Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, St Paul's Cross, where open-air preaching took place. In the Great Fire of London of 1666, Old St Pauls was gutted. While it might have been possible to reconstruct it, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style. This course of action had been proposed even before the fire.
Present St Paul's[edit]
An aerial view of St Paul's
The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669.[12] He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than fifty City churches are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was enagaged in the production of his five Tracts on Architecture.[13] Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Paul's in 1661, five years before the Great Fire of London in 1666.[14] The proposed work included renovations to both interior and exterior that would complement the Classical facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630.[15] Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existent structure as a scaffold. It was at this time that he first envisaged building a dome that spanned the aisles as well as the nave.[citation needed] After the fire,
It was at first though possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh. In July 1668 Dean William Sancroft wrote to Christopher Wren that he was charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in agreement with the Bishops of London and Oxford to design a new cathedral that was "handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation".[16] The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Paul's Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain and with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world.[17] The building was financed by a tax on coal, and was completed within its architect's lifetime, and with many of the major contractors employed for the duration.
