The first cathedral to St Paul on Ludgate Hill was founded in 604 AD by Mellitus, Bishop of the East Saxons. It was built of wood and burned down, and its replacements met similar fates, until the Normans began a vast stone cathedral after a fire in 1087.
That building, now known as Old St Paul's, grew into one of the longest churches in Europe, with a spire taller than anything in London today bar a few modern towers. By Tudor times its nave, nicknamed 'Paul's Walk', had become a noisy meeting place for gossips, merchants and pickpockets.
In September 1666 the Great Fire of London swept up Ludgate Hill. Booksellers had stored their stock in the crypt for safety, and the burning paper helped melt the lead roof, which ran down the streets like a river. Old St Paul's was left a ruin.
The task of rebuilding fell to Sir Christopher Wren. After several rejected designs, work began in 1675, and the new cathedral was declared complete in 1711. Its great dome, inspired by St Peter's in Rome, is actually three domes in one: an inner dome seen from below, a hidden brick cone, and the outer dome that dominates the skyline.
Wren is buried in the crypt beneath a simple slab. Its Latin inscription reads 'Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice': 'Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you.'
During the Blitz in 1940, Winston Churchill ordered that St Paul's be saved at all costs. Volunteers of the St Paul's Watch put out fires on the roof night after night, and the famous photograph of the dome rising through the smoke became a symbol of London's survival.
Dickens knew the cathedral well, and its steps are where our Christmas Carol tour begins. Join us and we'll tell you more stories from its long shadow.
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