Talk:St Paul's Cathedral/Archive 1

What the quote?
Does anyone know what the quote "Ask not for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." means to St. Paul's Cathedral? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.138.178.92 (talk) 04:30, 4 December 2004 (UTC)


 * It has nothing to do with St Paul's per se; it is a line from a poem by John Donne, who was Dean of St. Paul's in the early 17th century (i.e. before the fire; his monument is one of the few which survive from the old St. Paul's. Doops | talk 06:45, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Not Brock
HURENSOHN Isn't Brock buried in Brock's Monument? (who's buried in Grant's Tomb?) Is it a memorial or plaque or something in St P's? Feldercarb (talk) 03:39, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Design
I remember watching a TV programme a couple of years ago about the building of the cathedral (which was mainly about the astonishing level of corruption in public life at that time - the foreman of the works was paid peanuts, but made a large fortune out of the building). The approved design had (I think) a smaller dome with a tower on the top, and Wren kept the dome covered up until it was built so nobody could object to his preferred but rejected design until it was too late. However, I have no evidence for this other than my leaky memory, and church architecture isn't my thing. Does anyone else know more? --Andrew Norman 12:52, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

Found some information about this on the BBC website, and I'll add it now. --Andrew Norman 15:30, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

I remember seeing a TV programme which mentioned a story about the crest of a Phoenix on the portico of the south end of the cathedral (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b3/StPaulsCathedralSouth.jpg). I'm not sure how accurate this is, but Wren asked a workman to find a piece of stone to be used to mark out the centre of the dome on the ground during construction after the original burnt down. The workman returned a piece of a gravestone with RESURGAM on it. Apparently this is Latin for "I will rise again", and this inspired the Phoenix crest with the word Resurgam written underneath it, also appropriate as a Phoenix is supposed to rise from the ashes. Would this be worthwhile on the main page?


 * Fakelore, pure embroidery.--Wetman 14:15, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, the phoenix and the word "Resurgam" are certainly there - I saw them from the top of a bus recently - and deserve a mention. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 171.192.0.10 (talk) 12:58, 18 January 2008 (UTC)

The Phoenix story is from Parentalia, the biography of Wren published in 1750 by his grandson and written by his son. The pheonix and resurgam are indeed sculpted in stone and sit in the pediment of the South Transsept of the cathedral.(DrArchitect (talk) 20:42, 14 January 2011 (UTC))

Name
St Paul's Cathedral spells it St Paul's and not St. Pauls on their website... I was going to move the article to either St. ... or Saint ... but apparently the Dean of St Paul's refers to it as St Paul's. Pedant 2005 July 2 03:07 (UTC)

On sourced footnote
says wren had doubts there was a temple to Diane on the site - Kruger, 1943

the reference isnt mentioned at the bottom of the page - suggest removing the footnote... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.122.105.54 (talk) 17:07, 1 August 2008 (UTC)

tax
Anybody have a useful source to hand so we can supply the details about the coal tax used to fund the construction? Doops | talk 06:43, 9 October 2005 (UTC)

Photographs
I have removed this image from the article because I am unsure about its copyright status, and it doesn't "fit" in the Historical Images gallery. I've placed a similar example (with a PD status) in line with all the other images. Just as an aside, the actual building is unusual in that it's an extremely good photographic subject, but very difficult to capture in its entirety. I wonder if we can find an image from after the Blitz when much of the surrounding buildings were levelled, or maybe a moderen aerial photograph? --Surgeonsmate 17:48, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I've moved a contemporary image out of the Historical Images gallery. I really like the way that the Historical Images gallery gives a series of views of the history of the building, especially the way Wren's design replaced the rather grim-looking Old St Pauls. Perhaps it is overkill to have another gallery for modern images, what do others think? --Surgeonsmate 11:52, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

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Date of completion
Where does 20 October 1708 comes from? According to the Cathedral's official site, it was completed on 1710. User:Ejrrjs says What? 08:57, 5 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Why on earth does the article say "The cathedral was completed on 20 October 1956, Wren's 76th birthday"???


 * I'm not an expert on St Pauls (though I'd like to be!) and every source I can find on the web says that completion was in 1710, when the architect's son laid the topmost stone on the lantern, the building being from bottom to top, rather than the more usual east to west for a project of this size. (Building east to west meant that the completed portions could be used before the whole was complete, the usuable space growing progressively larger.) See the BBC article.


 * We're going to look right gooses in 2009 if the 300th birthday party (complete with royal attendance, set of stamps, opening of Pret a Manger in the basement etc.) hasn't happened yet and we say it should have been in 2008. Perhaps our authority will be so immense by that stage that the Cathedral administration will bring the party forward, but this remains to be seen. --Surgeonsmate 17:11, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

The victory service for Marlborough's victory of Oudenaarde was held at St Paul's in 1708. Queen Anne, whose statue now stands outside, and Sarah (M's wife) had a blazing row in public on that occasion. The dome might not have been finished by then.(not signed)

The official completion date, when Wren was paid was Christmas day 1711 but actually work continued well into the 1720s. The building accounts for the building survive and are all in the Guildhall library in London for those that feel like checking the dates from the original archival sources. For those that wanted printed authority most are reprinted in the volumes of the Wren Society, a twenty volume compilation of most of the material on Wren published at the rate of one volume a year between 1923 and 1943. The date of 1708 comes from the date of the laying of the last stone on the lantern. The story of this is retold in Parentalia, the biography of Wren published by his grandson in 1750, but there the date is wrong (printed as 1710). The master mason Edward Strong left a memoir which was reprinetd in Clutterbuck's "The History and Antiquities of the County of Hertford (1815-27) volume I pp.167-168 which is quite clear it was in 1708 which matches the progress on the building recorded in those accounts I mentioned. (DrArchitect (talk) 20:50, 14 January 2011 (UTC))


 * There seem to be a lot of sources that say that the "topping out" was completed on 20 October 1708, but none of them can be considered a reliable source. The St Paul's website doesn't even have an exact date.  howcheng  {chat} 16:22, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

Listing
There's no online database of current listed buildings, but there is one of images of buildings which were listed as of 2000 - it's here:. St Paul's is shown as "Grade A" for some reason - I have no idea what that means, I thought the listings were always numbers (Westminster Abbey is Grade I). --ajn (talk) 16:35, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Height
Does anyone know the height of St Paul's?


 * 365 feet, according to http://www.virtualtourist.com/.


 * Standing over 355 feet says http://stpauls.co.uk// (search for "feet" and read the 1710 article).


 * This image from that same site says 355.5 feet: http://stpauls.co.uk/images/cut-away.gif The discrepancy (from 365 feet) looks like it might be the height of the cross atop the ball.


 * Atlant 21:53, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Please give measurements in metres and feet please - wikipedia is not just for Europeans —Preceding unsigned comment added by AsparagusTips (talk • contribs) 15:34, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Legend of St Paul's?
Well, not a legend per se...

I briefly heard a saying in my history class, stating that if St Paul's is detroyed, Britain would follow. Did I hear this correctly or is that attributed to a different cathedral?


 * Colosseum. The rooks of the Tower of London. --Wetman 20:35, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

WW2 bomb damage
The article says that the cathedral survived despite its being struck by "a" bomb, and in essence this is true. However, this BBC article says that on both 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941, bombs did cause quite severe damage to the building, but that hasty cleanup work was done to preserve the myth of St Paul's "indestructible" status. Should that be mentioned here? Loganberry (Talk) 13:10, 15 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I think I'd like another more direct source for this, as it's essentially second or third hand without the sort of details you really need to be sure.Alci12 14:44, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It is difficult to find reliable first hand sources pertaining to this topic, probably because the people who may or may not have cleaned up the church would not want it known. Therefore, should it not be added in and cited as conjecture untill someone finds more reliable proof?Millertime246 (talk) 02:43, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

New picture from the south please
The scaffolding is coming down from the south front now. Does anyone have a recent photo of that side to replace the begrimed pre-restoration one that's currently at the top of the article? Wimstead 14:03, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

I've added a photo which was taken this week. It's viewed from Paternoster Square. I agree the previous photo was horrible! Looked so dirty. Wjfox2005 15:42, 13 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry, this replacement photo is not good. It might not have much scaffolding, but with just an angled view of the dome with encroaching columns, it doesn't really show the cathedral at all. -- Solipsist 18:23, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
 * Of interest, might be the construction work taking place on the east side of the Cathedral, this has opened up a view that has not been seen since the war, and will disappear completely soon. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me. Kbthompson 18:34, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
 * I only had my mobile with me, but how about
 * Image:St Paul's East End1.jpg
 * Image:St Paul's East End2.jpg
 * Image:St Paul's East End by night.jpg
 * The best angle would probably be from teh middle of Cheapside, but I'm not sure you'd actually last long enough to take a photo. If the gates to the construction site are open there's also a potetnially reasonable view, but it depends what machinery they've got in at the time. David Underdown 19:50, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

I have a pic of all the scaffolding if you want that? ZellDenver

I've gone ahead and uploaded some images, I think meet Wikipedia's standard:

1549 mob iconoclasm?
I deleted a reference to a supposed incident in 1549 in which a preacher at Paul's Cross was supposed to have instigated some sort of mob iconoclasm at St. Paul's. I'd be quite interested to see a source for this claim, if it's in fact true. ThaddeusFrye 06:31, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:StPaulsCathedral.jpg
Image:StPaulsCathedral.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

— Save_Us _ 229  22:09, 28 December 2007 (UTC) there is a church which you can drive oder no yes it makes fun! :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.52.120.185 (talk) 10:26, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Remains from Old St. Paul's
Is anyone aware of what happened to those bodies buried along the walls of Old St. Paul's after the fire? Were these remains re-interred in the new building? Non of the sources seem to deal with how this was handled. 69.14.38.16 (talk) 02:02, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Roman Catholic
Regarding the description: "earlier buildings Roman Catholic"; it's far too simplistic. Most Anglicans would disagree with the idea that their church was once Roman Catholic. The idea put forward, that the church changed denomination, is an anachronistic view of the real situation, that the church in England separated from the church in Rome. The term "Roman Catholic" is a nineteenth century one, meaning Catholic but not Anglican, and it shouldn't be applied to a period before the reformation. It would be more sensible to note only the current denomination and to leave the history of the Church of England to the relevant articles. --Lo2u (T • C) 17:56, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Eight Melodies?
I heard that the boys sung that song on that unreleased North American and Europe of Mother series. According to the track, it was sung by one of the St. Paul's Cathedinal Choir, which means this article. I'm not sure if this is the right article or not, but I do know that they sang that song for the Japanese audience. My apologies about my grammar, but I was just reminding you guys. --Girla PurpleHeart (talk) 19:10, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Name of the Cathedral
In the introductory paragraph, the name of the building was changed to "London Cathedral". I have changed it back to St Pauls, for the following reason.

The correct name of the building is Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle. Hence it would be fair to say in the opening line; "The Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, more commonly referred to as St Paul's Cathedral...". However, to say; "London Cathedral, more commonly referred to as St. Paul's Cathedral..." does not make sense. "London Cathedral" is neither the official name of the building, nor a commonly used name; I have never seen or heard it used. Using "London Cathedral" is irrelevant, and merely confuses things. MinisterForBadTimes (talk) 14:40, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Speaking of which, can anyone shed light on why the term "London Cathedral" has never been used? Similarly, the Dean is known as "Dean of St Paul's", not "Dean of London". Does anyone know how this distinction arose? Other English deans are known by the name of the cathedral's city. Anglicant (talk) 06:08, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

There is more than one cathedral in London, Southwark Cathedral being another. Although Southwark Cathedral is lesser known, to use London Cathedral in reference to St Paul's would deny the existence of Southwark Cathedral as it implies the one and only cathedral in London. Plus, as far as I can tell from a quick look in some of my books, not many cathedrals are dedicated to specific saints like St Paul's is which is probably why it has never been known as London Cathedral unlike Coventry or Winchester for example. LEL. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.243.148.220 (talk) 17:46, 2 August 2010 (UTC)


 * All cathedrals have a dedication. Coventry is St Michael and All Angels, Winchester the Holy Trinity, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, and Saint Swithun (which would be abit of a mouthful).  Southwark was only raised to cathedral status in 1914, tough Westminster Abbey briefly held the status of a cathedral in the Tudor period, and at that London referred also exclusively to the City, so I don't think this explanation really holds water  David Underdown (talk) 09:26, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

The district known as the "city of london" is quite small, and liable to be confused with the town of london which has many millions. For comparison the adjacent district which is the city of westminster is sufficiently unique to have a bishop named for it. The dean would thus have to be "The Dean of The City of London". However Deans define there titles not wiki users. JDN — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.31.202.145 (talk) 10:14, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

The City of London is a red herring. Bishops carry the name of the diocese- hence the dicocese is London and the diocese of London covers much of greater London (not just the City of London) north of the river. The diocese of Southwark is south of the river. The seat of the Bishop of London is St Paul's Cathedral (cathedral, of course, coming from the Latin "cathedra" meaning seat). If the diocese is disbanded the cathedral is downgraded. Southwark Diocese was only formed in 1905. The Dean is responsible for the cathedral and is thus always always named after the cathedral he looks after- thus the Dean of St Paul's is called just that and not the Dean of London or the Dean of the City of London (DrArchitect (talk) 21:03, 14 January 2011 (UTC))

Ze Germans
Little evidence given that the Germans targetted St Pauls specifically in 1941. From 6 miles up targetting anything so small was a bit of a hit and mostly miss afair. However St Pauls stands in the heart of the financial district known as the "City of London" which was certainly a stategic target. {{subst:unsignedIP|216.31.202.145|10:14, 20 October 2008 (UTC)}

Added image to Artists section
Added a new image of the dome to the artists section and gallery-ized it with the existing image. It seemed like the most appropriate section to add to, but may have cramped the text a little. DP 76764 19:56, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Major deficiency
What are the dimensions of the dome? Lucas Brown (talk) 23:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)
 * here is a website that has the dimensions of the dome. http://nisee.berkeley.edu/elibrary/getpkg?id=GoddenE2-22 Millertime246 (talk) 02:46, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Intro
The introduction is just terrible!
 * 1) The introduction identifies the building as being on Ludgate Hill in the City of London. But what is it the cathedral of? Is it the Cathedral of Ludgate, or what? That is among the most basic information to provide. The name of the hill, familiar to Londoners, is not part of the essential statement of what St Paul's actually is!
 * 2) The present building dates from the 17th century and is generally reckoned to be London's fifth St Paul's Cathedral, although the number is higher if every major medieval reconstruction is counted as a new cathedral. This sentence waffles on with qualifiers about whether it really is the 5th cathedral on the site. That is not intro stuff. Tell us in the history that there have been five, (or not, or possibly not).
 * 3) The cathedral sits on the edge of London's oldest region, the City, which originated as a Roman trading post along the edge of the River Thames. Tell us about the Roman trading post (if necessary) in the history. This is totally superfluous in the intro.

The only important facts in the present intro are that it is in the City, that it is the seat of the bishop, that it is Anglican, that it is 17th century and that many people visit it.

What are the other truly important facts that should be in the intro?


 * 1) St. Paul's Cathedral, Where? That city-name is part of the name of the cathedral itself. Not Ludgate Hill, not City. It is the "Cathedral of What?"
 * 2) Proper dates. This is really not a hard ask, in the case of St Paul's.
 * 3) Name of architect. Not essential to the intro in the case of many piecemeal medieval structures, but Hey! this man was great!
 * 4) Name of architectural style. Only one style. Very very few cathedrals were built in this style. Name it in the intro. It's really important!
 * 5) What feature makes this cathedral a distinctive landmark? Old cathedrals in England have towers. What makes this building distinctive?
 * 6) Is it a World Heritage Site?

I am frankly amazed that a number of people could have worked on this article, and that someone could have written about the architecture in considerable detail, yet no-one thought about what was really important to the introduction.

I realise this negativity may sound hard on you editors, but if you put it up as a GA, then you must have at least read, re-read, thought about and fine-tuned your very first sentence.

This is a top priority architectural article. The intro needs to reflect that. I'm downgrading it, until it does.

Amandajm (talk) 09:39, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't know if this is in the right place but... ..I went to London a few weeks back and have some pictures of St. Pauls —Preceding unsigned comment added by ZellDenver (talk • contribs) 16:53, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Photographs
I was in London a few weeks back and have some decent photographs if anyone needs them, there's one with the current regeneration on the south (?) face too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ZellDenver (talk • contribs) 16:57, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Infobox Image
Does anyone have a better image for the infobox? The current one is awful as it's dominated by buildings other than the cathedral itself. Surely an image from the south-east (eg the Cannon Street/New Change junction) showing the unobscured south facade, or of the west door, would be more fitting for such a magnificent building. Pjc51 (talk) 19:49, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I had thought the same thing. An image of the West Door would surely be superior.  Skomorokh   23:02, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
 * (belatedly) me too, we must surely be able to get an image there with the dome-thingy in view...there is an aerial shot down the page.

Address
Also, I believe the cathedral is on Cannon Street, not Ludgate Hill as stated in the introduction - can anyone confirm this? Pjc51 (talk) 19:53, 29 March 2009 (UTC)
 * As best I can remember, if you walk eastward along Ludgate Hill, the road forks either side of the Cathedral; the right (south) fork is Cannon Street, and the left leads to an enclosure containing the London Stock Exchange. Google Maps  Skomorokh   23:11, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Sight Lines
Anyone have any information to add to this article about the sight lines that are in place for the construction of new buildings in London. Its about making sure that any new buildings dont obscure the view of the cathederal. If you look on the article about "the gherkin" tower it briefly mentions it but no word of it here? 92.21.63.173 (talk) 23:49, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Read this and summarise it if you like........http://static.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/sds/spg-views-2009-draft.jsp 85.210.88.58 (talk) 01:27, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Who is St Paul's cathedral named after?
I couldn't find, anywhere in the text of the article, a wikilink to the Saint Paul that this church is named after (assuming that it is indeed named after one of the Saints called Paul). This seems like an important detail that ought to be in the article. There's a caption to a photo of a statue of Paul the Apostle, so I assume it's him, would that be correct? Can anyone provide a citation? SP-KP (talk) 15:29, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Mmm, you're right actually, it's quite difficult to find a reference confirming it is Paul the Apostle. The only Google Books ref that explains it is . Even that's not that clear. Rob (talk) 17:50, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

It is definitely St Paul the apostle and the writer is correct, he is standing on the pediment at the centre of the West front, sword and book in hand and the scene in the pediment of the west end is the conversion of St Paul. According to Bede the first cathedral was founded in 604 and dedicated to St Paul by St Ethelbert, King of Kent, the first Christian King of England (presumably but here I am guessing, in allusion to his own conversion, from one mighty warrior to another so to speak). Every cathedral on the spot since has been dedicated to St Paul. Plenty of secondary sources if you don't want to cite Bede. I'll put one in the text now (DrArchitect (talk) 21:19, 14 January 2011 (UTC))

Article name change?
This article needs to be renamed as "St Paul's Cathedral, London" or something similar. I was tempted to do this myself but thought it might cause problems with the many articles that probably link to it. Whilst the London cathdral is obviously the most well-known "St Paul's Cathedral" the article name still needs to be more specific. Does this need any discussion before making a change? Anglicanus (talk) 08:27, 27 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, it needs to be discussed (see WP:RM). But if you're conceding it's the most well know St. Paul's Cathedral, you should probably check out WP:PRIMARYTOPIC Hot Stop (c) 19:55, 27 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I would personally say that this easily passes as the primary topic, even in other countries - I imagine few people ever search for "St Paul's Cathedral, London", and the article itself makes its location very clear. Rob (talk) 20:18, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Lead picture
I have just put back a picture of the facade of the cathedral, a major work of architectural importance, and the most recognizable part of the building. I removed the distorted montage image that is a side view, encroached by the tower of ...( I've lost the name of the bombed church).... Someone else previously returned the west front to the lead, with a comment about it's iconic status, or some such.

The comment by the person who put back the "side view" is that it shows the "whole building". Well, it doesn't. It does show the dome of course, but then what it shows is the rather bland side wall, which Wren never intended to be seen like that, because there were still small buildings encroaching. Wren designed the upper half to be seen above the London houses, from a distance. The front, however, is the front, and it was on that front that he lavished the remarkable and satisfying design that he wanted us to see.

If you think that the side view, with lots of lawn, and a lonely belfry from a lost building is the better view, then please leave a message to explain why.

Amandajm (talk) 17:41, 16 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I think the aerial view that's further down on the page would be much more suitable. The picture you removed was certainly a very bad picture, but I do feel that an article in an encyclopedia meant for general readers needs to show the feature most people, who aren't architectural historians, know it for (i.e. the dome, not the west front).  J Rawle  (Talk) 10:20, 12 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I certainly agree that to have a lead picture that all but obscures its most famous feature is a mistake. Weirdly, because it was taken before all of the post-war encroachment of high-rise buildings this old black and white image gives arguably the best profile of the facade and the dome of the other images on Commons. Rob (talk) 20:36, 12 July 2011 (UTC)

Although it still doesn't feature the West Front, on Flickr (with a suitable licence) does feature the whole side without the misleading distortion. Rob (talk) 21:50, 14 July 2011 (UTC)
 * That pic shows the wholes side, but minimises the effect of the visible west front tower, and brings to the front a tower which doesn't belong to the building at all. The side views, from close up, don't do the architecture justice in any way, despite the fact that they show the dome.
 * The front is the front. It represents the building in the same way as a face represents the person that it belongs to. The face of the building, in this case, is an extraordinary and remarkable piece of architecture, though this is rarely recognised.
 * Provided the dome appears in a subsequent picture, it doesn't need to represent the building, iof the photo that shows it is otherwise misleading.
 * We either need a good long shot, or else use that other old picture. That picture is not a Pre War photograph. It's a 19th century engraving.
 * I would happily go with the old image, which shows an "ideal" view of the building. Amandajm (talk) 03:58, 15 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, I just found another pic and cropped it an straightened it and it shows the front and the dome.
 * There is also an arial view which I would be quite happy with, as it show the whole building without being misleading in any way.

What do you think of the old photograph? I realise it's not especially high resolution, but that particular shot (with the front and dome) would most-likely not be able to be re-created due to the construction of high-rise buildings in the 20th century. Rob (talk) 07:38, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I am perfectly happy with that old image. Its an engraving after a photo. I don't know quite how those plates are produced, but the effect is quite lovely. Amandajm (talk) 07:50, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
 * It's excellent as the lead picture. The article contains many actual photos, so the contemporary appearance is also looked after, but that engraving seems to meet the requirement perfectly. Best wishes DBaK (talk) 10:05, 16 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The old picture is a great picture with which to lead the article.  J Rawle  (Talk) 17:59, 23 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh, I do so love a positive consensus of opinion! Amandajm (talk) 04:23, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Bonggggg
Apropos of Great Tom we write: "The bell is only rung on occasions of a death in the royal family, the Bishop of London, or London's mayor". Since this seems to be an old rule we could perhaps assume it means the Lord Mayor rather than the newer Boris/Ken "Mayor of London" job, but is there a ref which would enable us to specify this properly? (Or maybe I am just being instinctively horrible and the Johnny Come Lately McMayor Job would indeed get the bell rung?! Who knows?) Best wishes DBaK (talk) 20:13, 11 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I have edited it to Lord Mayor of London as that is clearly what is meant AND the edit is needed to avoid confusion with the London Mayor. David (talk) 17:22, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Kruger
An un-named editor removed a bracketted ref (Kruger 1943). At least, I presume that this is simply a badly formatted reference. Can anyone fix it?

Amandajm (talk) 02:31, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Possibility of cathedral evicting occupy protesters?
Is it appropriate to include mention of the cathedral's intention to file for the eviction of the occupy London protesters?Allyn (talk) 05:30, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Arts Project
"Rendered in splendid giltwood, with Christ's wracked body sculpted in relief, and the flourishes of flora and incandescent rays from heaven, this masterpiece of the German Rococo is an object of ravishing beauty and intense piety."

I suppose I like St Paul's as any other Londoner, but this is a bit much to take in an encyclopædia. It reads like something from an advertising brochure. Any objection if I tone it down? Paul Magnussen (talk) 22:37, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

The mathematical shape of the three domes
The article currently says the outer dome is catenary, but isn't it spherical? I did a quick search of other webpages - the first five or six other webpages I looked at say the outer dome is spherical, the inner dome catenary, and the "hidden" structural dome more "conical" and like a cubic (Wren seems to have sketched it as a cubic but it turned out now quite like that). (I'm not sure what "conical" means here though, as it can't really be conical and also have a cubic cross section; the St Paul's website has a diagram that makes the hidden dome look really conical, with a straight-edged cross-section, not cubic at all.)

It makes sense that the outer dome is spherical, because the whole point about needing the extra hidden dome is that the outer dome is not the right shape to be structural, so it would not make sense for it to be catenary (as catenaries are structurally sound). However the article currently says the inner and outer domes are catenary. I'm not sure that any of the websites I've found would count as references though eg The current reference is to a book (to which I don't have access) and it's not clear which part of the paragraph is being referenced. --Purplecarrot2 (talk) 01:40, 24 May 2012 (UTC)


 * The engraving on the cathedral's website shows the contours of the three parts of the structure clearly.
 * The inner dome appears as a deep catenary, with the curve starting at the lowest course.
 * The brick cone is clearly straight-sided and therefore conical, not cubic, even though it turns into an arch at the top.
 * To my eye, the outer dome is ovoid, not catenary. I have rotated the picture through 180 degrees and I am sure this is correct.
 * However, I can only speak for the engraving, for which the draftsman appears to have taken pains to get the curve of the inner dome most precise.
 * Maybe James W.P. Campbell has been up there, taking detailed measurements, and can demonstrate that the outer dome is also catenary.  Can we have more info on this? Anyone?
 * Amandajm (talk) 06:54, 24 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Looked at more pics. Beginning to be convinced that outer dome is catenary as well!  Amandajm (talk) 12:36, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

St Paul's Cathedral Organ
I have qualified the statement 'third-largest organ in Great Britain' by stating the total number of pipes within the various sections of this instrument. The current order at the moment being: 1) Liverpool Anglican Cathedral 10,268 pipes 2) Royal Albert Hall 9,997 pipes 3) St Paul's Cathedral 7,266 pipes. However when the Royal Festival Hall organ is finally restored to it's original dimensions in the summer of 2014 St Paul's will then fall into fourth place, as the RFH organ will have 7,866 pipes. Ds1994 (talk) 14:27, 26 July 2012 (UTC)

CfD Proposal to delete Burial by place category
It has been proposed here to delete the category that links people to their place of burial. Note that the proposer is recommending the removal of the whole tree of categories, not just the the top level categories listed. Ephebi Ephebi (talk) 15:42, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

How many workers died building St. Paul's Cathedral.
Is there any research on this? Also, why is there not a memorial to them? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.189.5.149 (talk) 21:31, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

Temple of Diana
Quote from "Pre-Norman cathedral" section: "Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed that the cathedral had been built on the site of a temple dedicated to the goddess Diana, in alignment with the Apollo temple that he imagined once stood at Westminster...".

Nonsense - Geoffrey did NOT make such a claim. The idea that (following the persecution of Christians by Diocletian) Apollo was worshipped at Westminster and Diana in London comes from the history of Westminster Abbey by John Flete, 15th-century monk of Westminster - and he didn't say that Diana was worshipped on the site of St Paul's. That comes from William Camden's Britannia, published in 1586. Camden puts forward the theory that a Roman Temple of Diana had once stood on the site of St Paul's. His evidence is not accepted by modern archaeologists.

And if the "in alignment with" phrase actually means what it says, one can only respond that a straight line can indeed be drawn between any two points!

Since the sentence about Geoffrey of Monmouth is unreferenced and unverifiable (as well as untrue) I'm simply going to delete it pro tem - unless someone can provide the essential reference to a verifiable source. However, since the "Temple of Diana" story still resurfaces occasionally (along with the "megalithic stone circle"!) it will be worth reintroducing it at some point, correctly attributed and with proper references. - John O&#39;London (talk) 12:49, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I've added a para about the Temple of Diana, with references - also rewrote 'Pre-Norman' section. John O&#39;London (talk) 13:00, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Workable?
"After the fire, the ruins of the building were still thought to be workable, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s to start afresh." To me (and yes YMMV) "workable" sounds terrible clunky and a touch jargonistic, without even being precise. (You may have concluded by now that I don't like it.) Is some more elegant replacement possible? Cheers DBaK (talk) 09:42, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
 * OK. Bisy backson......  Amandajm (talk) 03:09, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks - much better now. DBaK (talk) 11:44, 28 June 2013 (UTC)

Memorials
They are still all there, but have been hidden. My suggestion is that we turn them into a separate list, which could even have photos of the people and a few short lines about their notability.

Amandajm (talk) 12:16, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

New photos of the interior
I was recently granted special access to photograph the interior of St Paul's Cathedral with a tripod. Here are the final images I was able to take. Unfortunately I wasn't given access to the crypt or the gallery and the time allocated was fairly limited, but hopefully these images will expand greatly on our limited existing interior imagery:


 * Of these images, I suspect the first image is more 'representatitve' of the expansiveness of the cathedral. The image of the choir is more intimate, and probably better suited to the choir section of the article. &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  12:12, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

RE: second image. My process of adjustment is:
 * upload to Photoshop
 * add extra size to canvas
 * locate camera/eye level and shift the image in the canvas so that the canvas pivots around the eye-level, rather than the centre of the image.
 * Go to Adjustments and add the slightly curved perspective that the human eye actually sees.
 * The result of this is that although the verticals take on a slight lean, everything that has been stretched, suddenly becomes its correct shape. i.e. the domes become round, the arches are no longer flattened, the Duke of Wellington's horse is no longer 2 metres long and 1 metre high, and all the little red lampshades are the same shape.


 * I then cropped the central, vertical section.
 * If you could do me a few crucial images that are similar vertical crops, I would love it.
 * However, I suggest that a couple of the wider fews go in as well, probably on looking each direction.
 * Next question. Did you get a photo from further west than the one with the equestrian memorial? That image shows part of one of the domical sections of the ceiling, of which there are one larger one at the narthex, then three before the dome. A photo of the nave that shows at least two of those little domes would be very useful. It could replace the current image of the nave which is poor quality.
 * I want to use the picture taken directly under the dome as well, but I want to team it with a crop that shows that diagonal view, as requested above, and is focussed on the arch rather than the dome itself, so I'll wait, and do them both together as I will also have to adjust the caption.
 * Unfortunately what you see above is all that I was able to take. As I said the other day, every image takes 5-10 minutes to shoot (from setting up the tripod, finding the correct exposure, and then shooting each of the many component images). &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  12:12, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Amandajm (talk) 11:39, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * I've uploaded a high resolution crop as per your low resolution framing. It's available here. I tried to match your framing as close as possible. Hope that's what you're after. &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  12:19, 3 June 2014 (UTC)


 * Oh! I was just rewriting all this into a tidier form. As you can see, I have added quite a few images. I'll take a look . Amandajm (talk) 12:29, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, I see that. It's looking better already. &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  12:32, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Diliff, totally brilliant! Amandajm (talk) 12:39, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * OK! Now, what I want is:

Right- Just reread that. This is the only Navish picture. I'll add it then, and think about what goes in a gallery below. Amandajm (talk) 12:50, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * 1) A vertical crop  of the choir the same format as chancel. Because a) I want to put them together b) I don't like the distortion at the sides. See my notes above.
 * 2) Did you take a pic of the nave from further back? Otherwise we live with what we've got, but it would be nice to have one back far enough to show one of the circular vault compartments. I know.... you are going to tell me that there was a queue, a counter and a font in your way.... no excuse! Amandajm (talk) 12:45, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Precisely! The photo of the nave the very first photo I took when I entered the building, and it was directly in front of the font (in fact my tripod was as far back as I could get, on the raised marble that surrounds the font). I wanted to take that one first before too many people arrived. Actually even though I arrived for the opening, it wasn't truly empty as there were cleaners and other staff pottering around. I would have liked to have taken more photos of the nave from different people but as people were starting to pour in, I wanted to get as many photos as I could of different parts of the building before they too became impossible. And by the time I got back around to the nave again, there were throngs of people and I was running out of time anyhow. It's amazing how quickly an hour goes. Actually I was lucky to get an hour. Apparently I was only supposed to get 30 minutes, but when I protested and said that the email promised an hour, they said it was a mistake but that they would honour it. &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  12:57, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Diliff, St Paul's is not exactly user-friendly. You were very lucky that you got the extra time. Half an hour wouldn't have been anywhere near enough. You'll find most other cathedrals are easier, in part because they are not so swamped with tourists. The other one that is difficult is Canterbury, because they have crowds of school children coming across from France on excursions.  The volunteers in the cathedral are wonderful, but the crowds of rude French teenagers are a nightmare.
 * On one occasion Gibson and I ran into an American woman with a teenage daughter outside the medieval gateway of the Cathedral. nearly in tears because they couldn't get in. They had come on a school English excursion, but the rest of the kids wanted to go to MacDonalds instead of the cathedral, and the teacher who was supposed to pay their entry had not done so, and they had run out of cash. The poor teenage girl was pleading with the dragonish woman in the gatehouse. I don't know how she could have been so unkind, since, really, they are allowed to use their discretion. I flicked a pass in font of her face and said that they were visiting the cathedral as my guests, and that we were all going to pray in the crypt and visit the tomb of the saint and that was that. The woman said "You can't do that!" I said, "Oh yes I can!" and off we went, with the girl saying that Yes, she really did want to pray in the crypt.... They can't keep out bona fide worshippers. She was such a sweet girl.....seemed to have walked out of the 19th century.Amandajm (talk) 13:57, 3 June 2014 (UTC)
 * Some of cathedrals seem to have really business-oriented managers running them these days. I suppose they feel like they need to in order to attract the visitors needed to maintain the cathedrals, but at what cost to the actual purpose of the cathedral in the first place!? Yesterday, I put together a little table of the cathedrals on the circular road trip I showed you, and did some research on their websites about the policies on photography. Many of them said, "Sure, photography is no problem!". Others said "Photography is permitted, but we charge you £3 for a photography permit". Others said "No photography allowed except by prior approval", so I emailed these people (yes I know it may be more constructive to call them, but I wrote a generic email and did my best to explain what I was trying to achieve). Two cathedral managers have replied, both of them rather suspicious and wary of what this photography might expose them to. One of them, Hereford Cathedral, seemed positive, but quite concerned that once the images were published, they would have no ability to track or control the images. The other, Chichester Cathedral, wanted to know the exact details of all the places on the internet that the photo would be published, which Wikipedia articles I would be editing, etc. I had to explain that Wikipedia is collaborative and I cannot control how the images are used, nor can I even limit them only to Wikipedia. I'm still in discussion with both cathedrals but to be honest, it wasn't all that promising. They seem more concerned with protecting their interests than encouraging people to learn about the cathedral. I strongly suspect that quality images in the articles (and potentially used elsewhere in blogs etc) would have a wholely positive influence on visitor numbers, but convincing their management is another story. &#208;iliff    &#171;&#187;  (Talk)  14:27, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

The bells... the bells...
Re 'Clock and bells' section: there used to be a useful and informative page on the change-ringing bells at the St. Paul's official website, but it has been "updated" and some info has gone which doesn't seem to exist except here on the Wayback machine from 24 October 2014. I wonder if the following info could be incorporated into the section:

Quote: "St Paul's has the second largest ring of bells in the world hung for change ringing.  They were cast in 1878 and were given by the following donors:-
 * The Drapers Company (Bells 1 and 2)
 * The Baroness Burdett Coutts and Turners Company (3 to 6)
 * The Salters Company (7)
 * The Merchant Taylors Company (8)
 * The Fishmongers Company (9)
 * The Clothworkers Company (10)
 * The Grocers Company (11)
 * The Corporation of the City of London (12)

The smallest bell (number1), known as the Treble, weighs just over 8 hundredweights, while the largest, known as the Tenor, weighs over 3 tons (61 cwt). Bells are [always] measured by their weight in hundredweights, quarters and pounds. The St Paul's ring is in the key of B flat."

If the info is wanted/useful, one partial solution could be to expand the 'Details of the bells' table with a Donor column. This preview table doesn't appear to disturb the section layout too much.



My interest stems from a previous edit to Baroness Burdett Coutts, who funded bells 3-6 in 1878. MinorProphet (talk) 08:30, 18 March 2015 (UTC) Edit: Added 'before & after' view. MinorProphet (talk) 08:42, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Hart citation
Two different Hart references were mixed in together. I have used Wikiblame to trace the original inserts:

-- PBS (talk) 00:29, 20 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Revision as of 13:33, 31 March 2009 1995 edition
 * Revision as of 16:48, 20 November 2011 2002 edition
 * Revision as of 23:54, 21 November 2011 2002 edition

Missing clock?
I have taken the liberty of removing the unsourced comment in the "Photography and film" subsection which reads: "...though it [the 1964 Mary Poppins film] shows the space from the missing clock, when that was caused by bombing during World War II, 30 years after the film was set". Presumably this is referring to the circular openings in the north west tower, corresponding in to the clock faces in the south west tower. As far as I can tell, there has never been a clock in the north west tower; this photograph dating from the late 19th century, shows the same circular opening that can be seen today. Alansplodge (talk) 17:01, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

File:St Paul's Cathedral Interior Dome 3, London, UK - Diliff.jpg +5 to appear as POTD soon
Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:St Paul's Cathedral Interior Dome 3, London, UK - Diliff.jpg and five other images will be appearing as picture of the day on December 17, 2016. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2016-12-17. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 01:53, 29 November 2016 (UTC)

Entry fee - not encyclopedical ?
When one enters the church, is something like "This is a house of our Lord in Heaven" written on the glass doors - then the Church of England want's £18 (!!!) just to come further inside. I find that to be of encyclopedic interest. Churches are normally free to visit. Boeing720 (talk) 19:38, 28 March 2017 (UTC)


 * It was the word "sadly" that I believed to be unencyclopedic. The rest will do. I wonder if they charge if you just want to go in, light a candle, have a quick pray and leave. Nortonius (talk) 21:11, 28 March 2017 (UTC)
 * Attending services is free I think. For just praying, you could use the statue of Queen Anne outside, as Spanish nuns were reputed to do. Johnbod (talk) 01:18, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
 * I've just been to London and visited the Cathedral. I can't say whether there are any fees on Sundays or at other events, but normally they take 18 Pounds. I've been there before, and in the mid 1980's was admission free. This time I went out as soon as I realised they demanded money, like it only is an attraction. And I think the fee is sad, but OK I shouldn't have used the word in the article. To Johnbod, thanks for the advice. But I can pray next to anywhere. I'm a sinner and a believer in Christianity. I'm born into Lutheran faith, but I sooner feel like being Ecumenical. Boeing720 (talk) 21:36, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Help with citations!
Is there an experienced editor who can fix the citations? There's something wrong with their format in much of the article and I'm not sure how to fix them. Foreignshore (talk) 20:52, 1 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Should be good now. The templates page needed and unreliable source? were placed inside reference templates, instead of after them. Dairy &#123;talk&#125; 05:06, 2 December 2017 (UTC)

I'm no expert. I was just reading the entry and something confused me. In the war history section it said it was bombed twice -- October 1940 and May 1941. Then the next paragraph it said a bomb hit it on September 10, but they were able to defuse it. Glad to here it was defused, but it's still a bomb. Doesn't that mean it was hit three times by bombs?

(I'm reading a YA fantasy trilogy, and right now the characters are running to that church on September 4, 1940. I had to check. And the series in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, just in case anyone wants to read about this church in fiction. (Honest, just a reader. Don't know the author, just a good story.) 108.52.80.38 (talk) 01:45, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

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Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral
The list article Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral may be of interest. Should there be more on the history of the architecture and the architects in the main article, or is that best covered in a separate article? Carcharoth (talk) 09:21, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 18:07, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Air Raid Damage in Britain during the Second World War HU36220A.jpg