STORY OF ST. PAUL'S.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18406, 12 June 1925, Page 10

STORY OF ST. PAUL'S.

TWENTY CENTURIES OF HISTORY. and St. Paul's are almost synonymous terms:.. • one cannot mention . one without being reminded; of the other," said Mr Alfred Clark, in tlier course.b£ an address,on'"St; PaiA's Cathedral" at ; tho meetingof the Canterbury Allied Building. .Trades * Association last evening...

MrOlark said, that in seeking information regarding St."' Paul's it was necessary to turn back; the pages of twenty centuries, for ■ tradition : had ' it that the' Bomdns demolished a church standing on its site 'and raised. a temple to Diana on its ruins. They saw St, Paul's in/Roman London, in Saxon London, in., Norman. London, -in Elizabethan London, in Stuart London,' and in. Queen Anne's London. Throughout ' this long period of time .they ; were able -to note the remarkable changes which took place in ecclesiastical architecture. The earliest authenticated church of St. Paul's was built and. endowed by Ethelbert, King of East Kent. Fire had been the" persistent enemy of St. Paul's. It was. entirely destroyed by fire in 1087, again --partially ,in 1561, and yet again in 1661. In 1620 : the ruinous state Of the great cathedral ■aroused' the theological King James I. 'Mr Clark dealt with the proposals for the restoration of St. Paul's followed by its-destruction in the great fire in 1661 and its rebuilding by Sir Christopher Wren. . Nothing was done to the rebuilding until the year 1673. The first stone, was. laid by Wren,on June 21st, 1675, but.there was no.publie' ceremonial. The total sum expended on the building of St.: Paul's Cathedral, according to Dean Milman, was. £736,752 2s 3*d. In the light of the: latest/estimate, for. repairs,' this seemed a ;nodest sum.. The cathedral, left colourless -and - blank by Wren; had never yet been finished; It was 2292 ft in .circumference,. and the height from the.nave pavement to the top of the cross was 365 ft.

In order to give.his hearers an idea of the great size of St. Paul's Cathedral, Mr Clark exhibited a plan of Cathedral Square, Christchurch, on which were pencilled designs of St. Paul's. and .St., Peter's, Borne. St! Paul's approximately ten times as large as the Christchurch Cathedral, and occupied an area nearly, as largo as Cathedral Square, and St. Peter's was approximately twenty-eight -times as largo as Christchurch Cathedral. ; .'. ■ A general discussion took place 'on the conclusion of Mr Clark's address, and the lecturer answered ; a large number of questions. He was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Mr J. Greig.' , ,