Story of St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral has a long and arduous history. The sacred grounds have seen more than one redesign, and numerous large-scale repair works. It was founded as a cathedral in the year 604. Interestingly, the sole reason it was built where it was built is because there was a hill present. This hill was the reason Mellitus decided to set up shop there, he was bishop sent from Rome to Christianize London when the city was still part of a Saxon era. In the beginning, it was a wooden church. Therefore, by noone’s surprise, it burned to the ground in the year 675. Immediately after, rebuilding process was underway, however this time it was built by St. Erkenwald. (The man is still buried there so the grounds continue to be sacred.) The Vikings destroyed the second church and in 962, it is rebuilt once more. It is built in stone this time because it is a familiar material Saxons used from recycled Roman ruins. In 1087, there was a local fire around the London Bridge that did some damage to this third church. This event motivated people to turn it into a grand structure, this where the idea of building it into a gothic structure originated. In 1240, the gothic ideas is carried through. This is ironically, the same time that the Westminister Abbey is built, with a similar gothic structure. The church was not completely wooden, neither was it completely stone. This festers the need for constant repair. The repetitive repair and reconstruction also adds rose windows and flying buttresses to the cathedral. In terms of height, it is wider and taller than the existing St. Paul’s cathedral. As it grows physically, it begins to take in small parish churches in the area, and soon, it is no longer just a religious place, but a public space. The nave begins to hold the public and passerbys. There are records of it being used for people playing games, selling things, news mongers, etc.… The nave becomes referred to as Paul’s Walk. The 16^th century is one of religious contention, Henry VIII breaking away from Catholicism. There is a break from the Catholic Church. The dissolution of the monastery is a lot of iconoclasm. Puritan iconoclasm happens around 1536, where the cathedral suffers quite a bit of damage. On the civil war, there is Oliver Cromwel who is inclined towards protestant, so he will completely neglect the church, so it falls into ruin. The Jewish community is offered the Cathedral, but they decline. In 1561, lightning destroys the spire, and there is more ruin that adds to the state of the building. Around 1634, the king wants to give dignity back to the structure. Inigo Jones is hired to fix things, but he will do his own ideas, that will be classically inclined.
Jones constructs a decastyle portico. He replaces pilasters with engaged columns, because he needs support. He is trying to turn this into an edifice that is far from gothic and close to classical. There is materiality involved, he re-clads the whole building in portland stone. This is before the fire, people are considering portland stone already. The civil war happens in 1642-1651, there is complete neglect of the church and it is in disuse, then the catholic upheaval happens and so Jones is out of business. There monarchy is then again restored in 1659/60. However, there is no dome or spire at this point. The church as a cathedral is lacking dignity. When the great fire happens, the cathedral burns down because it has timber scaffolding. After the fire, Wren reconstructs the cathedral. Wren was a physicist and had a background in engineering. He dealt with structural issues, definitely numbers. In 1668, he puts proposals to what the new cathedral can look like, it is not one of repair but of redesign. He is building the first Anglican cathedral, and wants it to be different. Socially, the Greek cross brings people together more than a plan with a long nave. It creates this idea of spatial equality. He thinks this will also attract the clergy. He wants to create an edifice that is of its own time, that adhere to architectural fashion that is around that time. People interested in celestial phenomena like domes because this structure speaks to that. It is no longer enough if you just built ornamentation. In 1665, he produces the warrant decision that is approved by the king. The clergy is happy, and the king is happy. He proposed a longitudinal plan. In this proposal there is a spire in the dome. There is a clause in the argument that states that the architect can produce changes as he sees fit. This clause makes him change most of the building to build the dome. The final design is shorter, narrower, and smaller. This is compared to the gothic cathedral. He finds that he has to reduce the size of the dome that he wanted to build. So that is the reason that he reduced everything else, than the previous gothic structure.