Old St Pauls was the medieval predecessor of Sir Christopher Wrens current classical masterpiece. The cathedral of St Paul has been

at the heart of life in London for over 900 years, although t

here has been a church dedicated to St Paul

the apostle

since the start of the seventh century on Ludgate Hill. The history of St Paul's can be split into three key stages which are:

Early history

, decline and Post fire of

London.

Old St Pauls

is the only medieval cathedral (which survived the medieval age) to be entirely destroyed in England.





The cathedral was begun in 1087 after a fire of the same year destroyed the Anglo-Saxon Cathedral, along with much of Anglo-Saxon London. Construction of a much larger cathedral began,

although another fire in 1136 hindered its progress.

Most of the Cathedral which survived into the seventeenth century dated from the period between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. At the first stage of competition the cathedral was Norman in character, the nave (which was the major Norman wok to survive later additions) was

12 bays long and could be compared in appearance to the style of Durham with rounded arches held with large columns. In the subsequent centuries the cathedral

was greatly enlarged and added to, a major period of rebuilding was in the late fourteenth century. The most notable of the

fourteenth century additions was the thin needle spire which was constructed on top of the tower. The spire measured 489 feet high and was 85 feet higher than Salisbury, making it the tallest in the world. Also built in the fourteenth century were the cloisters and the chapter house. The main cloisters were unusual as they consisted of two stories, making them quite unique in England. The chapter house of 1332 is believed by some to be the earliest use of

Perpendicular

Gothic in England and well before the construction of the famous cloisters at Gloucester. The Norman east end was demolished some time between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as it was considered too small and a new choir was added much

enlarged built in the latest modern Gothic style. The new choir was double the size of the one it replaced which made t

he cathedral some 585 feet long, larger than the current cathedral and

made it one of the longest in the world at the time.





In 1561 the decline of the cathedral began when a fire destroyed the great spire. The spire which was

believed to be struck by a lighting strike

caught on fire and fell, coming crashing down onto the roof below. After the event the roof was restored but the spire was not. This event marked the turning point in the cathedrals fortunes as it set in to a long period of decline and neglect.

Henry VIII dissolution of the monasteries lead to further decline in the fortunes of the cathedral as the monastic buildings such as the cloister and chapels along with the shrines which pilgrims visited were all destroyed. The cathedral

was also

stripped of its decoration and its famous glass was destroyed. These events only a couple of years apart had a devastating impact on the building. After the

reformation when large ceremonies became less frequent

the cathedral became less important after and was no longer maintained with such care.

The cathedral became generally less visited by worshipers and pilgrims although the outdoor pulpit of St Paul's cross still attracted large audiences in the cathedral close. The grand n

ave was known as 'St Paul's walk' in which gentleman assembled to exchange news as well as buy products as it was home to many markets. After the reformation the c

athedral was used for more secular uses with many shops crowded into the cathedral close. The close was said to have the largest concentration of bookshops anywhere in London.





The old cathedral had many features of particular note. One was the great rose window on the east facade of the Cathedral which was filled with some impressive stained glass. The central tower too should be noted as it dominated the London skyline for some 400 years.





There was a slight upturn in fortunes for the cathedral in the early seventeenth century as a restoration project was planned by the famous architect Indigo Jones, perhaps the most important restoration project of the old cathedral. It had been in a bad state of repair after years of neglect since the Tudor times. James I tried in 1608 to force a restoration of the cathedral onto those responsible, however, it was only in 1628 that the bishop Laud finally collected the necessary funds for the restoration and finally work began. Jones was commissioned in 1634 to produce a detailed survey of the building of which many of his drawings survive. From 1634 he was placed in charge of the restoration work to St Paul's. The Gothic choir and chancel were carefully restored but the Norman parts including the nave were re-cased in a classical rusticated manner, reflecting the fashion of the day. At the west end he erected a grand classical facade with a 56 ft high Corinthian portico of 10 columns, framing the portico on either side were two towers (shown above

©

)

.

The south tower was a re-cased tower of the medieval parish church of St-Gregory-by-St Paul's. Indigo Jones was forced to keep the church after much protest when it began to be demolished. This addition was relatively undamaged by the great fire but was nonetheless demolished along with the rest of the cathedral. At the outbreak of the English civil war in 1642 restoration work was halted with much of Indigo Jones restoration plan still yet to be implemented.



