Abstract
For more than 1,400 years, a St Paul’s Cathedral has stood at the highest point of the City of London. The Cathedral was founded around 1087 AD by Bishop Maurice, Chaplain to William the Conqueror. It would become the longest standing home for Christian worship on the site to date, surviving for almost six hundred years. By the 1650s the building was in a serious state of disrepair and it was only after the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 that repairs were once again considered. Leading architects wrestled with the how to restore the medieval structure and were often in disagreement. Inspired by his travels in France and his knowledge of Italian architecture, Christopher Wren proposed the addition of a dome to the building, a plan agreed upon in August 1666. Only a week later,however, the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the remaining structure. Sir Christopher Wren was a brilliant scientist and mathematician. At the time, he was Britain’s most famous architect. The building he designed to replace the old Cathedral is his masterpiece. Nine years of planning were required to ensure that the new design would meet the requirements of a working cathedral-the interior had to be fitted for the grandest of occasions and ceremonies. Remarkably, all the building accounts, contracts and records of the rebuilding commission survive, alongside many original drawings. Christopher Wren lived to see the building completed and the last stone of the Cathedral’s structure was laid on 26 October 1708 by two sons named after their fathers, Christopher Wren Junior and Edward Strong, who was the son of the master mason. The building which Wren delivered in thirty-five years fulfilled all the requirements and provided a symbol for the Church of England, the renewed capital city, and the emerging empire.The Cathedral has served the United Kingdom ever since. It continues to welcome world leaders, thinkers, theologians, politicians and the general public in pursuit of a better society.
