St Pauls Cathedral

St Paul's Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. The present building dates from the 17th century, and is generally reckoned to be London's fourth St Pauls Cathedral, although the number is higher if every major medieval reconstruction is counted as a new cathedral.

The first cathedral was built by the Saxons in wood. It burned down in AD 675 and was rebuilt, again in wood, ten years later. After this version was sacked by the Vikings in 962, the "second" St Pauls was built, this time mainly in stone.

The predecessor to Wren's cathedral,The third St Pauls (known as Old St Pauls), was begun by the Normans after the late Saxon cathedral suffered in a fire of 1087. Work took over two hundred years, and a great deal was lost in a fire in 1136. Nonetheless the roof was once more built of wood, which was ultimately to doom the building.

The church was "completed" in 1240 but a change of heart soon led to the commencement of an enlargement programme, which was not completed until 1314. The cathedral was however consecrated in 1300. It was the third longest church in Europe at 596 feet (181 metres) and boasted one of Europe's tallest spires at some 489 feet (149 metres).

By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation in the cathedral as well as the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and various other buildings in the churchyard.

England's first classical architect Sir Inigo Jones added the cathedral's new west front in the 1630s, but "Old St Pauls" was finally ruined in the Great Fire of London of 1666.

Building work on the latest St Pauls Cathedral commenced in June 1675 to a design by a great English scientist and architect of the 17th century Christopher Wren, and St Pauls Cathedral was completed on October 20 1708.

Within the St Pauls Cathedral are plaques, carvings, monuments and statues dedicated to a wide range of people. The bulk are related to the British military, including several lists of servicemen who died in action, the most recent being the Gulf War.

There are special monuments to Admiral Nelson and to the Duke of Wellington in the south transept and north aisle, respectively. Also remembered are poets, painters, clergy and residents of the local parish.

The British Royal Family hold most of their important marriages, funerals and other religious and celebratory functions at Westminster Abbey, but St Pauls Cathedral was used for the marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

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Further information can be found on the St Pauls Cathedral official website.

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