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[Illustration: Old St Paul's and the Three Cranes Wharf.]
OLD ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
_By_
WILLIAM BENHAM, D.D., F.S.A.
_Rector of St. Edmund the King, Lombard Street, and Honorary Canon of
Canterbury_
[Illustration]
LONDON
SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED, GREAT RUSSELL STREET
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1902
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
OLD ST. PAUL'S AND THE THREE CRANES WHARF. Compiled from old Drawings
and Prints. _Frontispiece._
A BISHOP PLACING RELICS IN AN ALTAR. From a Pontifical of the
Fourteenth Century. British Museum, Lans. 451. _P._ 6
A PAPAL LEGATE. From a MS. of the Decretals of Boniface VIII. British
Museum, 23923. _P._ 6
A FUNERAL PROCESSION. From a MS. of the Hours of the Virgin. British
Museum, 27697. _P._10
A PONTIFICAL MASS. From a Missal of the Fifteenth Century. British
Museum, 19897. _P._ 54
BISHOP AND CANONS IN THE CHURCH OF ST. GREGORY-BY-ST. PAUL'S. From a
MS. of Lydgate's _Life of St. Edmund._ British Museum, Harl. 2278.
_P._ 62
Wenceslaus Hollar--to whose engravings of Old St. Paul's we are
indebted for our exceptional knowledge of the aspect of a building
that has perished--was born in Prague in 1607, and was brought to
England by the Earl of Arundel, who had seen some of his work at
Cologne. He soon obtained profitable employment, producing engravings
both of figures and views in rapid succession, and about 1639 he was
appointed drawing-master to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles
II. On the outbreak of the Civil War he served as a soldier in the
Royalist ranks, and was taken prisoner at Basing House, but escaped to
Antwerp. Obtaining very poor employment there, he returned to England
in 1652, and was engaged upon the plates for Dugdale's _History of St.
Paul's_ and other works, for which, however, he is said by Vertue to
have received very small pay, about fourpence an hour, "at his usual
method by the hour-glass."
Some years later the Plague and the Fire again threw him out of
employment, and he seems to have sunk deeper and deeper into poverty,
dying in 1677, with an execution in his house, "of which he was
sensible enough to desire only to die in his bed, and not to be
removed till he was buried." He lies in the churchyard of St.
Margaret's, Westminster, but there is no stone to his memory.
In the course of his industrious life he is said to have produced more
than 2000 engravings and etchings. "He worked," says Redgrave, "with
extraordinary minuteness of finish, yet with an almost playful
freedom." His engravings of Old St. Paul's, though not entirely
accurate, undoubtedly give a true general view of the Cathedral as it
was in its last years, after the alterations and additions by Inigo
Jones, and nearly a century after the fall of the spire.
OLD ST. PAUL'S FROM THE SOUTH. After W. Hollar.
OLD ST. PAUL'S FROM THE NORTH. After W. Hollar.
OLD ST. PAUL'S FROM THE EAST. After W. Hollar.
OLD ST. PAUL'S FROM THE WEST. After W. Hollar.
THE CHAPTER HOUSE AND CLOISTER. After W. Hollar.
THE NAVE, OR PAUL'S WALK. After W. Hollar.
THE CHOIR. After W. Hollar.
THE LADY CHAPEL. After W. Hollar.
THE ROSE WINDOW. From a Drawing by E.B. Ferrey.
GROUND PLAN OF OLD ST. PAUL'S. After W. Hollar.
THE SHRINE OF ST. ERKENWALD. After W. Hollar.
THE TOMBS OF SEBBA AND ETHELRED. After W. Hollar.
THE MONUMENT OF JOHN OF GAUNT AND BLANCHE OF LANCASTER. After W.
Hollar.
THE MONUMENT OF BISHOP ROGER NIGER. After W. Hollar.
THE MONUMENT OF SIR JOHN BEAUCHAMP, POPULARLY KNOWN AS DUKE
HUMPHREY'S. After W. Hollar.
BRASSES OF BISHOP BRAYBROOKE, JOHN MOLINS, AND RALPH DE HENGHAM. After
W. Hollar.
ST. FAITH'S CHURCH IN THE CRYPT OF ST. PAUL'S. After W. Hollar.
PORTRAIT OF BISHOP FISHER. From the Drawing by Holbein. British
Museum.
ST. MATTHEW: VIEW OF A MEDIÆVAL SCRIPTORIUM. From a MS. of a Book of
Prayers. British Museum, Slo. 2468.
A REQUIEM MASS. From a MS. of a Book of Prayers. British Museum, Slo.
2468.
SINGING THE PLACEBO. From a MS. of the Hours of the Virgin. British
Museum, Harl. 2971
SEALS OF THE DEAN AND CHAPTER. From Casts in the Library of St. Paul's
Cathedral.
ORGAN AND TRUMPETS. From a Collection of Miniatures from Choral
Service Books. Fourteenth Century. British Museum, 29902.
MONUMENT OF DR. DONNE. After W. Hollar.
PREACHING AT PAUL'S CROSS BEFORE JAMES I. From a Picture by H. Farley
in the Collection of the Society of Antiquaries.
OLD ST. PAUL'S FROM THE THAMES. From Hollar's _Long View of London._
WEST FRONT AFTER THE FIRE. From a Drawing in the Library of St. Paul's
Cathedral.
OLD ST. PAUL'S IN FLAMES. After W. Hollar.
OLD ST. PAUL'S
CHAPTER I.
THE BUILDING.
_Roman London_--_The Beginning of Christian London_--_The English
Conquest and London once more Heathen_--_The Conversion_--_Bishop
Mellitus_--_King Sebert_--_The First Cathedral_--_Its
Destruction_--_Foundation of the Second Cathedral by Bishop
Maurice_--_Another Destructive Fire_--_Restoration and
Architectural Changes_--_Bishop Fulk Basset's Restoration_--_The
Addition Eastward_--_St. Gregory's Church on the S.W. side_--"_The
New Work_" _and a New Spire: dedicated by Bishop Segrave_--_How the
Money was raised_--_Dimensions of the Old Church_--_The Tower
and Spire_--_The Rose Window at the East End_--_Beginning of
Desecration._
The Romans began the systematic conquest of Britain about the time
of Herod Agrippa, whose death is recorded in Acts xii. London was
probably a place of some importance in those days, though there is
no mention of it in Cæsar's narrative, written some eighty years
previously. Dr. Guest brought forward reasons for supposing that at
the conquest the General Aulus Plautius chose London as a good spot
on which to fortify himself, and that thus a military station was
permanently founded on the site of the present cathedral, as being
the highest ground. If so, we may call that the beginning of historic
London, and the Romans, being still heathen, would, we may be sure,
have a temple dedicated to the gods close by. Old tradition has
it that the principal temple was dedicated to Diana, and it is no
improbable guess that this deity was popular with the incomers,
who found wide and well-stocked hunting grounds all round the
neighbourhood. Ages afterwards, in the days of Edward III., were
found, in the course of some exhumations, vast quantities of bones
of cattle and stags' horns, which were assumed to be the remains of
sacrifices to the goddess. So they may have been; we have no means of
knowing. An altar to Diana was found in 1830 in Foster Lane, close by,
which is now in the Guildhall Museum.
But not many years can have passed before Christianity had obtained
a footing among the Roman people; we know not how. To use Dr.
Martineau's expressive similitude, the Faith was blown over the world
silently like thistle-seed, and as silently here and there it fell and
took root. We know no more who were its first preachers in Rome than
we do who they were in Britain. It was in Rome before St. Paul arrived
in the city, for he had already written his Epistle to the Romans; but
evidently he made great impression on the Prætorian soldiers. And we
may be sure that there were many "of this way" in the camp in London
by the end of the first century. For the same reason we may take it
for granted that there must have been a place of worship, especially
as before the Romans left the country Christianity was established as
the religion of the Empire. Only two churches of the Roman period in
England can now be traced with certainty. Mr. St. John Hope and his
fellow-explorers a few years ago unearthed one at Silchester, and the
foundations of another may be seen in the churchyard of Lyminge in
Kent.
And this is really all we can say about the Church in London during
the Roman occupation. The story of King Lucius and that of the
church of St. Peter in Cornhill are pure myths, without any sort of
historical foundation, and so may be dismissed without more words.
The Romans went away in the beginning of the fifth century, and by the
end of the same century the English conquest had been almost entirely
accomplished. For awhile the new comers remained heathens; then came
Augustine and his brother monks, and began the conversion of the
English people to Christ. The king of Kent was baptized in 596, and
Canterbury became the mother church. Pope Gregory the Great sent
Augustine a reinforcement of monks in 601. Two of these, Laurentius
and Mellitus, were consecrated by Augustine as missionary bishops to
convert West Kent and the East Saxon Kingdom to the faith. The chief
town of the former district was Rochester, and of the latter London.
This city had much grown in importance, having established a busy
trade with the neighbouring states both by land and sea. The king of
the East Saxons was Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert of Kent, and subject
to him. He, therefore, received Mellitus with cordiality, and as soon
as he established his work in the city, King Ethelbert built him a
church wherein to hold his episcopal see, and, so it is said, endowed
it with the manor of Tillingham, which is still the property of the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. There is no portion of that old church
remaining. It was in all probability built mostly of wood, and it
perished by fire, as so many Anglo-Saxon churches did, on July 7th,
1087. Some historical incidents connected with that early building
will be found on a subsequent page.
In the year before this calamity (April 5th, 1086), Maurice, chaplain
and chancellor to William the Conqueror, had been consecrated
Bishop of London by Lanfranc. Unlike most of William's nominees to
bishoprics, Maurice's moral character was disreputable; but he was a
man of energy, and he set to work at once to rebuild his cathedral,
and succeeded in getting from the king abundance of stone for the
purpose, some of it from the remains of the Palatine tower by the side
of the Fleet River, which was just being pulled down, having been
hopelessly damaged by the fire[1], and some direct from Caen. William
also at the same time gave him the manor and castle of Bishop
Stortford, thus making him a baronial noble. There was need for haste,
for the Conqueror died at Rouen on the 9th of September that same
year.
So began the great Cathedral of St. Paul, the finest in England in its
time, which, witnessing heavy calamities, brilliant successes,
scenes both glorious and sad, changes--some improvements and others
debasements--lasted on for nearly six centuries, and then was
destroyed in the Great Fire. We have first to note the main features
of the architectural history.
Bishop Maurice began in the Norman style, as did all the
cathedral-builders of that age, and splendid examples of their work
are still to be seen in our cities. Bishop Maurice's, as I have said,
was the finest of them all in its inception, but he really did little
more than design it and lay the foundations, though he lived until
1108. He seems to have been too fond of his money. His successor,
Richard Belmeis, exerted himself very heartily at the beginning of his
episcopate, spent large sums on the cathedral, and cleared away an
area of mean buildings in the churchyard, around which his predecessor
had built a wall. In this work King Henry I. assisted him generously;
gave him stone, and commanded that all material brought up the River
Fleet for the cathedral should be free from toll; gave him moreover
all the fish caught within the cathedral neighbourhood, and a tithe
of all the venison taken in the County of Essex. These last boons may
have arisen from the economical and abstemious life which the bishop
lived, in order to devote his income to the cathedral building.
Belmeis also gave a site for St. Paul's School; but though he, like
his predecessor, occupied the see for twenty years, he did not see the
completion of the cathedral. He seems to have been embittered because
he failed in attaining what his soul longed for--the removal of the
Primatial chair from Canterbury to London. Anselm, not unreasonably,
pronounced the attempt an audacious act of usurpation. Belmeis's
health broke down. He was attacked with creeping paralysis, and sadly
withdrew himself from active work, devoting himself to the foundation
of the monastery of St. Osyth, in Essex. There, after lingering four
years, he died, and there he lies buried.
King Henry I. died nearly at the same time, and as there was a contest
for the throne ensuing on his death, so was there for the bishopric
of London. In the interval, Henry de Blois, the famous Bishop of
Winchester, was appointed to administer the affairs of St. Paul's, and
almost immediately he had to deal with a calamity. Another great fire
broke out at London Bridge in 1135, and did damage more or less all
the way to St. Clement Danes. Matthew Paris speaks of St. Paul's as
having been destroyed. This was certainly not the case, but serious
injury was done, and the progress of the building was greatly delayed.
Bishop Henry called on his people of Winchester to help in the
rebuilding, putting forward the plea that though St. Paul was the
great Apostle of the West, and had planted so many churches, this was
the only cathedral dedicated to him. During these years Architecture
was ever on the change, and, as was always the custom, the builders in
any given case did not trouble themselves to follow the style in which
a work had been begun, but went on with whatever was in use then.
Consequently the heavy Norman passed into Transitional, and Early
English. For heavy columns clustered pillars were substituted, and
lancets for round arches. Nevertheless, apparently, Norman columns
which remained firm were left alone, while pointed arches were placed
over them in the triforium. Even in the Early English clustered
pillars there were differences marking different dates, some of the
time of the Transition (1222), and some thirty years later. And
here let us note that the "Gothic" church, as it is shown in our
illustrations, does not indicate that the Norman work had been
replaced by it. The clustered pillars really encased the Norman, as
they have done in other cathedrals similarly treated. At Winchester,
William of Wykeham cut the massive Norman into Perpendicular order,
but at St. Paul's an outer encasement covered the Norman, as Wren
showed when he wrote his account of the ruined church. A steeple was
erected in 1221. There was a great ceremony at the rededication, by
Bishop Roger Niger, in 1240, the Archbishop of Canterbury and six
other bishops assisting.
In 1255 it became necessary for the Bishop of London (Fulk Basset) to
put forth appeals for the repair of the cathedral, and his ground
of appeal was that the church had in time past been so shattered by
tempests that the roof was dangerous. Some notes about these tempests
will be found in a subsequent page. Accordingly this part was renewed,
and at the same time the cathedral church was lengthened out eastward.
There had been a parish church of St. Faith at the east end, which
was now brought within the cathedral. The parishioners were not well
content with this, so the east end of the crypt was allotted to them
as their parish church, and they were also allowed to keep a detached
tower with a peal of bells east of the church. This tower had already
an historic interest, for it had pealed forth the summons to the
Folkmote in early days, when that was held at the top of Cheapside.
This eastward addition was known all through the after years as "The
New Work." It is remarkable to note how much assistance came from
outside. Hortatory letters were sent from the Archbishops of
Canterbury and York, as well as from the greater number of other
bishops, to their respective dioceses. And not only so, but eight
Irish dioceses and one Scotch (Brechin) also sent aid.
There was another parish church hard by, that of St.
Gregory-by-St. Paul. Almost all our cathedrals have churches close to
them, such as St. Margaret's, Westminster; St. Laurence, Winchester;
St. John's, Peterborough; St. Nicholas, Rochester. In all cases they
are churches of the parishioners, as contrasted with those of the
monastery or the cathedral body. St. Gregory's Church was not only
near St. Paul's, but joined it; its north wall was part of the south
wall of the cathedral. Its early history is lost in antiquity, but it
was in existence before the Conquest[2]. The body of St. Edmund, K. &
M., had been preserved in it during the Danish invasions, before it
was carried to Bury St. Edmunds by Cnut for burial. It shared the
decay of the cathedral, and in the last days it was repaired, as was
the west end, by Inigo Jones in his own style, as will be seen by the
illustrations. Of the tombs and chantries which had by this time been
set up, it will be more convenient to speak hereafter, as also of the
deanery, which Dean Ralph de Diceto (d. 1283) built on its present
site.
Before the end of the thirteenth century Old St. Paul's was complete.
In the first quarter of the fourteenth century, a handsome marble
pavement, "which cost _5d._ a foot," was laid down over "the New
Work," eastward, and the spire, which, being of lead over timber, was
in a dangerous condition, was taken down and a very fine one set in
its place, surmounted by a cross and a gilt pommel[3] large enough
to contain ten bushels of corn. Bishop Gilbert Segrave (who had
previously been precentor of the cathedral, and was bishop from
1313 to 1317) came to the dedication. "There was a great and solemn
procession and relics of saints were placed within" (Dugdale). But the
following extract from a chronicle in the Lambeth library is worth
quoting: "On the tenth of the calends of June, 1314, Gilbert, Bishop
of London, dedicated altars, namely, those of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
of St. Thomas the Martyr, and of the Blessed Dunstan, in the new
buildings of the Church of St. Paul, London. In the same year the
cross and the ball, with great part of the campanile, of the Church of
St. Paul were taken down because they were decayed and dangerous, and
a new cross, with a ball well gilt, was erected; and many relics of
divers saints were for the protection of the aforesaid campanile and
of the whole structure beneath, placed within the cross, with a great
procession, and with due solemnity, by Gilbert the bishop, on the
fourth of the nones of October; in order that the Omnipotent God and
the glorious merits of His saints, whose relics are contained within
the cross, might deign to protect it from all danger of storms. Of
whose pity twenty-seven years and one hundred and fifty days of
indulgence, at any time of the year, are granted to those who assist
in completing the fabric of the aforesaid church."
[Illustration: A BISHOP PLACING RELICS IN AN ALTAR.
_From a Pontifical of the Fourteenth Century. British Museum, Lans._
451.]
[Illustration: A PAPAL LEGATE.
_From the Decretals of Boniface VIII. British Museum_, 23923.]
In the Bodleian Library there is an inventory of these relics, amongst
them part of the wood of the cross, a stone of the Holy Sepulchre, a
stone from the spot of the Ascension, and some bones of the eleven
thousand virgins of Cologne.
The high altar was renewed in 1309 under an indented covenant between
Bishop Baldock and a citizen named Richard Pickerill. "A beautiful
tablet was set thereon, variously adorned with many precious stones
and enamelled work; as also with divers images of metal; which tablet
stood betwixt two columns, within a frame of wood to cover it, richly
set out with curious pictures, the charge whereof amounted to two
hundred marks."
Dugdale also tells of "a picture of St. Paul, richly painted, and
placed in a beautiful tabernacle of wood on the right hand of the high
altar _in anno_ 1398, the price of its workmanship amounting to 12_l._
16_s._"
Quoting from a MS. of Matthew of Westminster, he gives the dimensions
of the church, in the course of which he says the length was 690 feet.
This is undoubtedly wrong, as Wren showed. I take the measurements
from Mr. Gilbertson's admirable little handbook, who, with some
modifications, has taken them from Longman's _Three Cathedrals_.
Breadth 104 ft.
Height of Nave roof to ridge of vaulting 93 ft.
" Choir 101 ft. 3 in.
" Lady Chapel 98 ft. 6 in.
" Tower from the ground 285 ft.
" Spire from parapet of tower 204 ft.
" Spire from the ground 489 ft.
Length of church (excluding Inigo Jones's porch) 586 ft.
Wren (_Parentalia_) thinks this estimate of the spire height too
great; he reckons it at 460 feet.
The cathedral resembled in general outline that of Salisbury, but it
was a hundred feet longer, and the spire was sixty or eighty feet
higher. The tower was open internally as far as the base of the spire,
and was probably more beautiful both inside and out than that of any
other English cathedral. The spire was a structure of timber covered
with lead. In Mr. Longman's _Three Cathedrals_ are some beautiful
engravings after a series of drawings by Mr. E.B. Ferrey, reproducing
the old building. There is one curious mistake: he has not given at
the base of the spire, the corner pinnacles on the tower, which were
certainly there. They are clearly shown in Wyngaerde's drawing of
London, and on a seal of the Chapter, which we reproduce. Some time
later than the rest of the work, stately flying buttresses were added
to strengthen the tower walls. One special feature of the cathedral
was the exquisite Rose window at the east end, of which we give an
engraving. It had not a rival in England, perhaps one might say in
Europe. Inigo Jones, if he was really the architect of St. Katharine
Cree, made a poor copy of it for that church, where it may still be
seen.
Of great historical events which had occurred during the growth of St.
Paul's cathedral we have to speak hereafter. As the momentous changes
of the sixteenth century drew near, the godlessness and unbelief
which did so much to alienate many from the Church found strong
illustrations in the worldliness which seemed to settle down awhile
on St. Paul's and its services. Clergymen appeared here to be hired
(Chaucer's _Prologue_), and lawyers met their clients. Falstaff
"bought Bardolph at Paul's." But before we come to the great changes,
it will be well to go back and take note of the surroundings of the
cathedral, and also to stroll through the interior, seeing that
we have now come to its completion as a building, except for one
addition, a real but incongruous one, which belongs to the Stuart
period. The accession of Henry VIII. then sees it, with that
exception, finished, and we discern three main architectural features:
there is still some heavy Norman work, some very excellent Early
English, and some late Decorated. And there are also tombs of deep
interest; though they are not to be compared indeed with those of
Westminster Abbey. There are only two Kings to whom we shall come in
our walk. But let us have the outside first.
[Footnote 1: On the site of this old tower, Archbishop Kilwardby
afterwards built the house of the Dominicans, or "Black Friars."]
[Footnote 2: Hence old Fuller's racy witticism: "S. Paul's is truly
the mother church, having one babe in her body, S. Faith, and another
in her arms, S. Gregory."]
[Footnote 3: A pommel was a ball made of metal, from Lat., _pomum_:
"an apple." It was not uncommon to surmount church spires with hollow
vessels and to take note of their capability of holding. Sometimes
they were made in form of a ship, especially near ports where corn was
imported.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE SOUTH. _After W. Hollar._]
[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE NORTH. _After W. Hollar._]
[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE EAST. _After W. Hollar._]
[Illustration: OLD ST. PAUL'S, FROM THE WEST. _After W. Hollar._]