IS ST. PAUL’S the vicissitudes of

IN DANGER?

WREN’S MASTERPIECE

OLD ST. PAUL’S: THE CATHEDRAL AS IT APPEARED BEFORE THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

Left to right: North view after the great spire was destroyed by lightning in 1561. South view when the spire was standing, and the same view after the spire was destroyed.
Paul s, which the
burrowing habits of modern London threaten to undermine, has had several predecessors, a cathedral occupying the site from the seventh century until shortly after the Norman Conquest, when it was destroyed by fire. This was succeeded by the Gothic building generally known as Old St. Paul’s, which was longer and narrower than the present Cathedral, and was surmounted by the tallest spire in Christendom —500 ft. in height—
destroyed by lightning in the days of Queen Elizabeth and never restored. Old St. Paul’s perished in the Great Fire of London in 1666, and only a few fragments of its foundations
now remain. It was chiefly remarkable for its size,
and was inferior to the present church in the clas
sical style which Christopher Wren began in 1675 and completed in 1710 at a cost of 1747, 954. His original design swept away the courts and alleys abutting on the cathedral,
made it the centre of radiating streets, and
surrounded it with a colonnaded piazza, but the scheme was abandoned on the score of expense.
THE INTENDED NEW STREET AND GRAND LANDING-STAGE PROJECTED IN 1826
The safety of St. Paul’s
has been threatened before—by sewers, underground railways, and the vibration of the ever-in
creasing traffic—and now the London County Coun
cil’s scheme for a tramway subway from Cannon Street to Peel’s Statue in Cheapside constitutes a new danger. In the opinion of Sir Francis Fox, whose work in connection with the restoration of Winchester Cathedral and other ancient buildings constitutes him the leading expert in these matters, the proposed sub
way should on no account be permitted, and he further reports that the cathedral is already in danger, and that immediate remedial meas
ures are imperative. Having examined the fabric some years ago he declares that in the interval very decided signs of disturbance have manifested themselves in the masonry, and in some
of the buttresses of the dome movement is now going on. The City is now thoroughly alarmed at the peril threatening its most prominent building, and the Lord Mayor has announced
his intention of summoning a Mansion House meeting should the County Council not withdraw the scheme.