was pulled down; the scaffolding of the steeple was assigned by
parliament for the payment of arrears due to the army; the body of the
church was converted into saw pits; part of the south cross was suffered
to tumble down; the west part of the church was converted into a stable;
and the stately new portico into shops for milliners and others, with
lodging rooms over them, at the erecting of which, Dr. Heylin observes,
the magnificent columns were piteously mangled, being obliged to make
way for the ends of beams, which penetrated their centers.
However, at the restoration, a new commission was procured for its
immediate reparation, and great sums of money raised by a voluntary
contribution; but before any thing material could be accomplished, the
dreadful fire of London reduced the whole edifice to little better than
a heap of ruins.
After two years fruitless labour in endeavouring to fit up some part of
the old fabric for divine worship, it was found to be incapable of any
substantial repair. It was therefore resolved to raze the foundations of
the old building, and to erect on the same spot a new cathedral that
should equal, if not exceed the splendor of the old; for this end
letters patent were granted to several Lords spiritual and temporal,
authorising them to proceed in the work, and appointing Dr. Christopher
Wren, Surveyor-general of all his Majesty’s works, to prepare a model.
Contributions came in so extremely fast, that in the first ten years
above 126,000_l._ was paid into the chamber of London; a new duty for
the carrying on of this work was laid on coals, which at a medium
produced 5000_l._ _per annum_, and his Majesty generously contributed
1000_l._ a year, towards carrying on the work.
Dr. Wren, afterwards Sir Christopher, was now called upon to produce his
designs; he had before drawn several, in order to discover what would be
most acceptable to the general taste; and finding that persons of all
degrees declared for magnificence and grandeur, he formed a very noble
one, conformable to the best style of the Greek and Roman architecture,
and having caused a large model to be made of it in wood, with all its
ornaments, he presented it to his Majesty; but the Bishops not approving
of it, as not enough of a cathedral fashion, the Surveyor was ordered to
amend it, upon which he produced the scheme of the present structure,
which was honoured with his Majesty’s approbation. The first design,
however, which was only of the Corinthian order, like St. Peter’s at
Rome, the Surveyor set a higher value upon than on any other he ever
drew, and as the author of his life observes, would have put it in
execution with more cheerfulness, than that which we now see erected.
This curious model is still preserved in the cathedral, and may be seen
at a small expence.
In the year 1675, Dr. Wren began to prosecute the work; the pulling down
the old walls, which were eighty feet high, and clearing the rubbish,
had cost many of the labourers their lives; and this put him upon
contriving to facilitate its execution by art. The first project he
tried was with gunpowder; for on their coming to the tower of the
steeple, the men absolutely refused to work upon it; for its height
struck the most hardy of them with terror. He therefore caused a hole of
about four feet wide to be dug in the foundation of the north west
pillar, it being supported by four pillars each fourteen feet diameter,
and then with tools made on purpose, wrought a hole two feet square into
the center of the pillar, in which he placed a little deal box,
containing only eighteen pounds of powder. A cane was fixed to the box
with a match, and the hole closed up again with as much strength as
possible.
Nothing now remained but to set fire to the train, and the Surveyor was
exceeding curious to observe the effect of the explosion, which indeed
was wonderful; for this small quantity of powder not only lifted up the
whole angle of the tower, with two arches that rested upon it; but also
the two adjoining arches of the isles, and all above them; and this it
seemed to do somewhat leisurely, cracking the walls to the top, and
lifting up visibly the whole weight about nine inches, which suddenly
tumbling to its center, again caused an enormous heap of ruin, without
scattering, and it was half a minute before this huge mountain opened in
two or three places and emitted smoke. The shock of so great a weight
from a height of two hundred feet, alarmed the inhabitants round about
with the terrible apprehensions of an earthquake.
A second trial of the same kind, was made by a person appointed by Dr.
Wren, who being too wise in his own conceit, disobeyed the orders he had
received, put in a greater quantity of powder, and omitted to take the
same care in closing up the hole, or digging to the foundation; but
though this second trial had the desired effect, yet one stone was shot
as from the mouth of a cannon to the opposite side of the church yard,
and entered a private room where some women were at work; but no other
damage was done, besides spreading a panic among the neighbours, who
instantly made application above against the farther use of gunpowder,
and orders were issued from the council board accordingly.
The Surveyor being now reduced to the necessity of making new
experiments, resolved to try the battering ram of the ancients, and
therefore caused a strong mast forty feet long to be shod with iron at
the biggest end, and fortified every way with bars and ferrels, and
having caused it to be suspended set it to work. Thirty men were
employed in vibrating this machine, who beat in one place against the
wall a whole day without any visible effect. He however bid them not
despair, but try what another day would produce; and on the second day
the wall was perceived to tremble at the top, and in a few hours it fell
to the ground.
In clearing the foundation, he found that the north side had been
anciently a great burying place; for under the graves of these latter
ages, he found in a row the graves of the Saxons, who cased their dead
in chalk stones; tho’ persons of great eminence were buried in stone
coffins: below these were the graves of the ancient Britons, as was
manifest from the great number of ivory and wooden pins found among the
mouldered dust; for it was their method only to pin the corpse in
woollen shrouds, and lay them in the ground, and this covering being
consumed, the ivory and wooden pins remained entire.
At a still greater depth he discovered a great number of Roman
potsheards, urns, and dishes, sound, and of a beautiful red like our
sealing wax; on the bottoms of some of them were inscriptions, which
denoted their having been drinking vessels; and on others, which
resembled our modern sallad dishes, beautifully made and curiously
wrought, was the inscription DZ. PRIMANI. and on others, those of
PATRICI. QUINTIMANI. VICTOR. IANUS. RECINIO, &c. The pots and several
glass vessels were of a murrey colour; and others resembling urns, were
beautifully embellished on the outsides with raised work, representing
grey hounds, stags, hares, and rose trees. Others were of a cinnamon
colour, in the form of an urn, and tho’ a little faded, appeared as if
they had been gilt. Some resembling juggs formed an hexagon, and were
curiously indented and adorned with a variety of figures in basso
relievo.
The red vessels appeared to have been the most honourable; for on them
were inscribed the names of their deities, heroes, and judges; and the
matter of which these vessels were made, was of such an excellent
composition, as to vie with polished metal in beauty.
There were also discovered several brass coins, which by their long
continuance in the earth were become a prey to time; but some of them
that were in a more favourable soil, were so well preserved as to
discover in whose reign they were coined: on one of them was Adrian’s
head, with a galley under oars on the reverse; and on others, the heads
of Romulus and Remus, Claudius and Constantine.
At a somewhat smaller depth were discovered a number of _lapilli_ or
_tesselæ_, of various sorts of marble, viz. Egyptian, Porphyry, Jasper,
&c. in the form of dice, which were used by the Romans in paving the
_prætorium_, or General’s tent. _Conyers M. S. in the Sloanian library,
in the Museum._
On searching for the natural ground, Dr. Wren perceived that the
foundation of the old church stood upon a layer of very close and hard
pot earth, on the north side about six feet deep, but gradually thinning
towards the south, till on the declivity of the hill, it was scarce four
feet; yet he concluded that the same ground which had borne so weighty a
building before, might reasonably be trusted again. However, boring
beneath this, he found a stratum of loose sand; and lower still, at low
water mark, water and sand mixed with periwinkles and other sea shells;
under this, a hard beach; and below all the natural bed of clay that
extends far and wide, under the city, country, and river.
The foundations appeared to be those originally laid, consisting of
Kentish rubble stone, artfully worked and consolidated with exceeding
hard mortar, after the Roman manner, much excelling what he found in the
superstructure. What induced him to change the scite of the church, and
eraze the old foundations which were so firm, was the desire of giving
the new structure a more free and graceful aspect; yet after all, he
found himself too much confined; and unable to bring his front to lie
exactly from Ludgate. However, in his progress he met with one
misfortune that made him almost repent of the alteration he had made; he
began the foundation from the west to the east, and then extending his
line to the north east, where he expected no interruption, he fell upon
a pit, where the hard crust of pot earth, already mentioned, had been
taken away, and to his unspeakable mortification, filled up with
rubbish: he wanted but six or seven feet to complete his design, yet
there was no other remedy but digging thro’ the sand, and building from
the solid earth, that was at least forty feet deep. He therefore sunk a
pit eighteen feet wide, tho’ he wanted at most but seven, thro’ all the
strata, that has been already mentioned, and laid the foundations of a
square pier of solid good masonry, which he carried up till he came
within fifteen feet of the present surface; and then turned a short arch
under ground to the level of the stratum of hard pot-earth, upon which
arch the north east coin of the choir now stands.
This difficulty being surmounted, and the foundations laid, he for
several reasons made choice of Portland stone for the superstructure;
but chiefly as the largest scantlings were to be procured from thence:
however, as these could not be depended upon for columns exceeding four
feet in diameter, this determined this great architect to make choice of
two orders instead of one, and an Attic story, as at St. Peter’s at
Rome, in order to preserve the just proportions of his cornice,
otherwise the edifice must have fallen short of its intended height.
Bramante in building St. Peter’s, though he had the quarries of Tivoli
at hand, where he could have blocks large enough for his columns of nine
feet diameter, yet for want of stones of suitable dimensions, was
obliged to diminish the proportions of the proper members of his
cornice; a fault against which Dr. Wren resolved to guard. On these
principles he therefore proceeded, in raising the present magnificent
edifice.
The general form of St. Paul’s cathedral is a long cross: the walls are
wrought in rustic, and strengthened as well as adorned by two rows of
coupled pilasters, one over the other; the lower Corinthian, and the
upper Composite. The spaces between the arches of the windows, and the
architrave of the lower order, are filled with a great variety of
curious enrichments, as are those above.
The west front is graced with a most magnificent portico, a noble
pediment, and two stately turrets, and when one advances towards the
church from Ludgate, the elegant construction of this front, the fine
turrets over each corner, and the vast dome behind, fill the mind with a
pleasing astonishment.
At this end, there is a noble flight of steps of black marble, that
extend the whole length of the portico, which consists of twelve lofty
Corinthian columns below, and eight of the Composite order above; these
are all coupled and fluted. The upper series supports a noble pediment
crowned with its acroteria. In this pediment is a very elegant
representation in bas relief, of the conversion of St. Paul, which was
executed by Mr. Bird, an artist, who, by this piece, has deserved to
have his name transmitted to posterity. Nothing could have been
conceived more difficult to represent in bas relief than this
conversion; the most striking object being naturally the irradiation of
light, but even this is well expressed, and the figures are excellently
performed. The magnificent figure of St. Paul, also on the apex of the
pediment, with St. Peter on his right and St. James on his left, have a
fine effect. The four Evangelists with their proper emblems on the front
of the towers, are also very judiciously disposed, and well executed:
St. Matthew is distinguished by an angel: St. Mark, by a lion; St. Luke,
by an ox; and St. John, by an eagle.
To the north portico, there is an ascent by twelve circular steps of
black marble; and its dome is supported by six large Corinthian columns,
forty-eight inches in diameter. Upon the dome is a large and well
proportioned urn, finely ornamented with festoons; and over this is a
pediment supported by pilasters in the wall, in the face of which is the
royal arms, with the regalia, supported by angels. And lest this view of
the cathedral should appear void of sufficient ornament, the statues of
five of the Apostles are placed on the top at proper distances.
The south portico answers to the north, and is placed directly opposite
to it. This, like the other, is a dome supported by six noble Corinthian
columns: but, as the ground is considerably lower on this, than on the
other side of the church, the ascent is by a flight of twenty-five
steps. This portico has also a pediment above, in which is a phœnix
rising out of the flames with the motto RESURGAM underneath it, as an
emblem of the rebuilding the church after the fire. This device had
perhaps its origin from an incident, which happened at the beginning of
the work, and was particularly remarked by the architect as a favourable
omen. When Dr. Wren himself had set out upon the place the dimensions of
the building, and fixed upon the center of the great dome, a common
labourer was ordered to bring him a flat stone, the first he found among
the rubbish, to leave as a mark of direction to the masons; the stone
which the fellow brought for this purpose, happened to be a piece of a
grave stone with nothing remaining of the inscription but this single
word in large capitals, RESURGAM; a circumstance which Dr. Wren never
forgot. On this side of the building are likewise five statues, which
take their situation from that of St. Andrew on the apex of the last
mentioned pediment.
At the cast end of the church is a sweep or circular projection for the
altar, finely ornamented with the orders, and with sculpture,
particularly a noble piece in honour of his Majesty King William III.
The dome which rises in the center of the whole, appears extremely
grand. Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of
thirty-two columns, with niches placed exactly against others within.
These are terminated by their entablature, which supports a handsome
gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these columns is a range of
pilasters, with windows between; and from the entablature of these the
diameter decreases very considerably; and two feet above that it is
again contracted. From this part the external sweep of the dome begins,
and the arches meet at fifty-two feet above. On the summit of the dome
is an elegant balcony; and from its center rises the lanthorn adorned
with Corinthian columns; and the whole is terminated by a ball, from
which rises a cross, both elegantly gilt. These parts, which appear from
below of a very moderate size, are extremely large.
This vast and noble fabric, which is 2292 feet in circumference, and 340
feet in height to the top of the cross, is surrounded at a proper
distance by a dwarf stone wall, on which is placed the most magnificent
balustrade of cast iron perhaps in the universe, of about five feet six
inches in height, exclusive of the wall. In this stately enclosure are
seven beautiful iron gates, which, together with the banisters, in
number about 2500, weigh two hundred tons and eighty-one pounds, which
having cost 6_d._ per pound, the whole, with other charges, amounted to
11,202_l._ and 6_d._
In the area of the grand west front, on a pedestal of excellent
workmanship, stands a statue of Queen Anne, formed of white marble with
proper decorations. The figures on the base represent Britannia with her
spear; Gallia, with a crown in her lap; Hibernia, with her harp; and
America with her bow. These, and the colossal statues with which the
church is adorned, were all done by the ingenious Mr. Hill, who was
chiefly employed in the decorations.
The north east part of the church yard is conferred by the Dean and
Chapter upon the inhabitants of St. Faith’s parish, which is united to
St. Austin’s, for the interment of their dead; as is also the south east
part of the cemetery, with a vault therein, granted to St. Gregory’s
parish for the same use.
On ascending the steps at the west end, we find three doors ornamented
on the top with bas relief; the middle door, which is by far the
largest, is cased with white marble, and over it is a fine piece of
basso relievo, in which St. Paul is represented preaching to the
Bereans. On entering this door, on the inside of which hang the colours
taken from the French at Louisbourg in 1758, the mind is struck by the
nobleness of the vista; an arcade supported by lofty and massy pillars
on each hand, divide the church into the body and two isles, and the
view is terminated by the altar at the extremity of the choir. The above
pillars are adorned with columns and pilasters of the Corinthian and
Composite orders, and the arches of the roof enriched with shields,
festoons, chaplets and other ornaments.
In the isle on one hand is the consistory, and opposite to it on the
other is the morning prayer chapel, where divine service is performed
every morning early, Sunday excepted: each of these have a very
beautiful screen of carved wainscot, that is admired by the best judges,
and each are adorned with twelve columns, arched pediments and the royal
arms, finely decorated.
On proceeding forward, you come to the large cross isle between the
north and south porticos; over which is the cupola. Here you have a view
of the whispering gallery, of the paintings above it, and the concave,
which fills the mind with surprise and pleasure. Under its center is
fixed in the floor a brass plate, round which the pavement is
beautifully variegated; but the figures into which it is formed can no
where be so well seen as from the whispering gallery.
You have now a full view of the organ, richly ornamented with carved
work, with the entrance to the choir directly under it. The two isles on
the sides of the choir, as well as the choir itself, are here enclosed
with very fine iron rails and gates.
The organ gallery is supported by eight Corinthian columns of blue and
white marble, and the choir has on each side thirty stalls, besides the
Bishop’s throne on the south side, and the Lord Mayor’s on the north.
The carving of the beautiful range of stalls as well as that of the
organ, is much admired.
Here the reader’s desk, which is at some distance from the pulpit, is an
enclosure of very fine brass rails gilt, in which is a gilt brass pillar
supporting an eagle of brass gilt, which holds the book on his back and
expanded wings.
The altar piece is adorned with four noble fluted pilasters painted and
veined with gold in imitation of lapis lazuli, and their capitals are
double gilt. In the intercolumniations are twenty-one pannels of figured
crimson velvet, and above them six windows, in two series.
The floor of the choir, and indeed of the whole church, is paved with
marble: but within the rails of the altar with porphyry, polished and
laid in several geometrical figures.
But to be more particular: as the disposition of the vaultings within is
an essential beauty, without which many other ornaments would lose their
effect, so the architect was particularly careful in this respect. “The
Romans,” says the author of the _Parentalia_, “used hemispherical
vaultings, and Sir Christopher chose those as being demonstrably lighter
than the diagonal cross vaults: so the whole vault of St. Paul’s
consists of twenty-four cupolas cut off semicircular, with segments to
join to the great arches one way, and which are cut across the other,
with eliptical cylinders to let in the upper lights of the nave; but in
the isles the lesser cupolas are both ways cut in semicircular sections,
and altogether make a graceful geometrical form, distinguished with
circular wreaths which is the horizontal section of the cupola; for the
hemisphere may be cut all manner of ways into circular sections; and the
arches and wreaths being of stone carved, the spandrels between are of
sound brick, invested with stucco of cockle-shell lime, which becomes as
hard as Portland stone; and which having large planes between the stone
ribs, are capable of the farther ornaments of painting, if required.
“Besides these twenty-four cupolas, there is a half cupola at the east,
and the great cupola of 108 feet in diameter at the middle of the
crossing of the great isles. In this the architect imitated the Pantheon
at Rome, excepting that the upper order is there only umbratile, and
distinguished by different coloured marbles; in St. Paul’s it is extant
out of the wall. The Pantheon is no higher within than its diameter; St.
Peter’s is two diameters; this shews too high, the other too low; St.
Paul’s is a mean proportion between both, which shews its concave every
way, and is very lightsome by the windows of the upper order, which
strike down the light thro’ the great colonade that encircles the dome
without, and serves for the abutment of the dome, which is brick of two
bricks thick; but as it rises every way five feet high, has a course of
excellent brick of eighteen inches long banding thro’ the whole
thickness; and moreover, to make it still more secure, it is surrounded
with a vast chain of iron strongly linked together at every ten feet.
This chain is let into a channel cut into the bandage of Portland stone,
and defended from the weather by filling the groove with lead.
“The concave was turned upon a center; which was judged necessary to
keep the work even and true, though a cupola might be built without a
center; but it is observable that the center was laid without any
standards from below to support; and as it was both centering and
scaffolding, it remained for the use of the painter. Every story of this
scaffolding being circular, and the ends of all the ledgers meeting as
so many rings, and truly wrought, it supported itself. This machine was
an original of the kind, and will be an useful project for the like
work, to an architect hereafter.
“It was necessary to give a greater height than the cupola would
gracefully allow within, tho’ it is considerably above the roof of the
church; yet the old church having before had a very lofty spire of
timber and lead, the world expected that the new work should not, in
this respect, fall short of the old; the architect was therefore obliged
to comply with the humour of the age, and to raise another structure
over the first cupola; and this was a cone of brick, so built as to
support a stone lanthorn of an elegant figure, and ending in ornaments
of copper gilt.