Editing St Paul's Cathedral (section)

==History==
===Before the cathedral===
The location of [[Londinium]]'s original cathedral is unknown, but legend and medieval tradition claim it was [[St Peter upon Cornhill]]. St Paul is an unusual attribution for a cathedral and suggests there was another one in the Roman period. Legends of [[Lucius of Britain|St Lucius]] link St Peter upon Cornhill as the centre of the Roman Londinium Christian community. It stands upon the highest point in the area of old Londinium, and it was given pre-eminence in medieval procession on account of the legends. There is, however, no other reliable evidence, and the location of the site on the Forum makes it difficult for it to fit the legendary stories. In 1995, a large fifth-century building on [[Tower Hill]] was excavated and has been claimed as a Roman basilica, possibly a cathedral, although this is speculative.{{Sfn|Denison|1995}}{{sfn|Sankey|1998|pp=78–82}}

The [[Elizabethan]] antiquarian [[William Camden]] argued that a [[Roman temple|temple]] to the goddess [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] had stood during Roman times on the site occupied by the medieval St Paul's Cathedral.{{sfn|Camden |1607|pp=306–307}} Wren reported that he had found no trace of any such temple during the works to build the new cathedral after the Great Fire, and Camden's hypothesis is no longer accepted by modern archaeologists.{{sfn|Clark|1996|pages=1–9}}

===Pre-Norman cathedral<!-- This section is linked from Ethelred the Unready -->===
There is evidence for Christianity in London during the Roman period, but no firm evidence for the location of churches or a cathedral. Bishop [[Restitutus]] is said to have represented London at the [[Council of Arles]] in 314 AD.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mann |first=J. C. |date=December 1961 |title=The Administration of Roman Britain |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/administration-of-roman-britain/8A09FCB2F3E872C7F0D48D63EEE9E8C6 |journal=Antiquity |volume=35 |issue=140 |pages=316–20 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00106465 |s2cid=163142469 |access-date=27 April 2023 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616023539/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/administration-of-roman-britain/8A09FCB2F3E872C7F0D48D63EEE9E8C6 |url-status=live }}</ref> A list of the 16 [[archbishops of London|"archbishops" of London]] was recorded by [[Jocelyn of Furness]] in the 12th century, claiming London's [[Celtic Christianity|Christian]] community was founded in the second century under the legendary [[Lucius of Britain|King&nbsp;Lucius]] and his missionary saints [[Saint Fagan|Fagan]], [[Deruvian]], Elvanus and Medwin. None of that is considered credible by modern historians but, although the surviving text is problematic, either Bishop [[Restitutus]] or Adelphius at the [[Council of Arles (314)|314 Council of Arles]] seems to have come from [[Londinium]].{{efn|"Nomina Episcoporum, cum Clericis Suis, Quinam, et ex Quibus Provinciis, ad Arelatensem Synodum Convenerint" ["The Names of the Bishops with Their Clerics who Came Together at the Synod of Arles and from which Province They Came"](from {{harvnb|Labbé|Cossart|1671|loc=col.&nbsp;1429}} included in {{harvnb|Thackery|1843|pp=272&nbsp;ff.}}).}}

[[Bede]] records that in AD{{nbsp}}604 [[Augustine of Canterbury]] consecrated [[Mellitus]] as the first bishop to the [[Anglo-Saxon]] kingdom of the [[East Saxons]] and their king, [[Sæberht]]. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht]], king of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]], built a church dedicated to St&nbsp;Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop.{{sfn|Bede|1910|pp=68–69}} It is assumed, although not proved, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the later medieval and the present cathedrals. <!-- If anyone wants to debate whether the original cathedral stood on another site, perhaps in Lundenwic, please cite verifiable references or discuss on Talk page-->

On the death of Sæberht in about 616, his pagan sons expelled Mellitus from London, and the East Saxons reverted to paganism. The fate of the first cathedral building is unknown. Christianity was restored among the East Saxons in the late seventh century and it is presumed that either the Anglo-Saxon cathedral was restored or a new building erected as the seat of bishops such as [[Cedd]], [[Wine (bishop)|Wine]] and [[Erkenwald]], the last of whom was buried in the cathedral in 693.

Earconwald was consecrated bishop of London in 675, and is said to have bestowed great cost on the fabric, and in later times he almost occupied the place of traditionary, founder: the veneration paid to him is second only to that which was rendered to St. Paul.<ref name="secular1">{{Cite web |title=Secular canons: Cathedral of St. Paul {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/london/vol1/pp409-433#fnn157 |access-date=27 August 2023 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> Erkenwald would become a subject of the important High Medieval poem ''[[St. Erkenwald (poem)|St Erkenwald]]''.

King [[Æthelred the Unready]] was buried in the cathedral on his death in 1016; the tomb is now lost. The cathedral was burnt, with much of the city, in a [[Early fires of London|fire in 1087]], as recorded in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]''.{{sfn|Garmonsway|1953|page=218}}

===Old St Paul's===
{{Main|Old St Paul's Cathedral}}
[[File:St Paul's old. From Francis Bond, Early Christian Architecture. Last book 1913..jpg|thumb|Reconstructed image of [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|Old St Paul's]] before 1561, with intact spire]] 
[[File: Wenceslas_Hollar_-_St_Erkenwald_(monument)_(State_2).jpg|thumb|upright|Shrine of St Erkenwald, relics removed 1550, lost as a monument in the Great Fire of London]]
The fourth St Paul's, generally referred to as ''Old St Paul's'', was begun by the [[Normans]] after the 1087 fire. A further fire in 1135 disrupted the work, and the new cathedral was not consecrated until 1240. During the period of construction, the style of architecture had changed from [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] to [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]], and this was reflected in the pointed arches and larger windows of the upper parts and East End of the building. The Gothic ribbed vault was constructed, like that of [[York Minster]], of wood rather than stone, which affected the ultimate fate of the building.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://britishheritage.org/st-paul-s-cathedral | title=St Paul's Cathedral }}</ref>{{better source|date=February 2025}}

An enlargement programme commenced in 1256. This "New Work" was consecrated in 1300 but was not complete until 1314. During the later Medieval period, St Paul's was exceeded in length only by the [[Cluny Abbey|Abbey Church of Cluny]] and in the height of its spire only by [[Lincoln Cathedral]] and [[St. Mary's Church, Stralsund]]. Excavations by [[Francis Penrose]] in 1878 showed that it was {{convert|585|ft|m}} long and {{convert|100|ft|m}} wide ({{convert|290|ft}} across the [[transept]]s and [[crossing (architecture)|crossing]]). The spire was about {{convert|489|ft}} in height.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16531/16531-h/16531-h.htm | title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of OLD ST. PAul's CATHEDRAL by WILLIAM BENHAM, D.D., F.S.A. }}</ref> By the 16th century, the building was deteriorating.

The [[English Reformation]] under [[Henry VIII]] and [[Edward VI]] (accelerated by the [[Chantries Acts]]) led to the destruction of elements of the interior ornamentation and the chapels, [[shrine]]s, and [[chantries]]. The Reformation would come to include the removal of the cathedral's collection of relics, which by the sixteenth century was understood to include:<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Paul's: To the Great Fire {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol1/pp234-248 |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of OLD ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL By WILLIAM BENHAM, D.D., F.S.A. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/16531/16531-h/16531-h.htm |access-date=13 September 2023 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

* the body of [[St Erkenwald]] 
* both arms of [[St Mellitus]]
* a knife thought to belong to [[Jesus]]
* hair of [[Mary Magdalene]] 
* blood of [[St Paul]]
* milk of the [[Virgin Mary]]
* the head of [[John the Baptist|St John]]
* the skull of [[Thomas Becket]]
* the head and jaw of [[King Ethelbert]]
* part of the wood of the cross, 
* a stone of the [[Holy Sepulchre]], 
* a stone from the spot of the [[Ascension of Jesus|Ascension]], and 
* some bones of the [[Saint Ursula|eleven thousand virgins of Cologne]].
[[File:Hollar, Wenceslaus - print; etching - St Paul's from the west - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|right|Old St Paul's in 1656 by [[Wenceslaus Hollar]], showing the rebuilt west facade]]

In October 1538, an image of St Erkenwald, probably from the shrine, was delivered to the master of the king's jewels. Other images may have survived, at least for a time. More systematic iconoclasm happened in the reign of Edward VI: the ''Grey Friar's Chronicle'' reports that the rood and other images were destroyed in November 1547; during this activity, a workman died when items fell on him.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Sharpe |first1=Reginald R. |last2=Sharpe |first2=Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) |date=2006-11-13 |title=London and the Kingdom - Volume I |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19800/pg19800-images.html#note_1288 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=www.gutenberg.org/files/19800/19800-h/19800-h.html |language=English}}</ref>

In late 1549, at the height of the iconoclasm of the [[English Reformation]], Sir [[Rowland Hill (MP)|Sir Rowland Hill]] altered the route of his Lord Mayor's Day procession and said a ''[[Psalm 130|de profundis]]'' at the tomb of Erkenwald.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharpe |first=Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19800 |title=London and the Kingdom – Volume 1A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London. |date=13 November 2006 |language=English}}</ref> Later in Hill's mayoralty of (1550){{sfn|Lehmberg|2014|p=114}} the high altar of St Paul's was removed<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickens |first=A. G. |title=The English Reformation |date=1 January 1989 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-0-271-02868-2 |edition=2nd |language=English}}</ref> overnight<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Architectural Setting of Anglican Worship by Addleshaw G W O Etchells Frederick | publisher=[[AbeBooks]] |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/the-architectural-setting-of-anglican-worship/author/addleshaw-g-w-o-etchells-frederick/ |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=www.abebooks.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> to be destroyed,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tudor Constitutional Documents 1485 1603 by J R Tanner – AbeBooks |url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/tudor-constitutional-documents-1485-1603/author/j-r-tanner/ |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=www.abebooks.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref> an occurrence that provoked a fight in which a man was killed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St.Paul's Cathedral during the Reformation |date=25 January 2019 |url=https://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/st-pauls-cathedral-during-the-reformation/ |access-date=25 August 2023 |language=en-US}}</ref> Hill had ordered, unusually for the time, that St Barnabas's Day would not be kept as a public holiday ahead of these events.

Three years later, by October 1553, "Alle the alteres and chappelles in alle Powlles churche" were taken down.{{sfn|Lehmberg|2014|p=114}} In August 1553, the dean and chapter were cited to appear before Queen Mary's commissioners.<ref name="secular1"/>

Some of the buildings in the St Paul's churchyard were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers. In 1561, the spire was destroyed by a lightning strike, an event that [[Roman Catholic]] writers claimed was a sign of God's judgment on England's Protestant rulers. Bishop James Pilkington preached a sermon in response, claiming that the lightning strike was a judgement for the irreverent use of the cathedral building.{{sfn|Morrissey|2011|p=3}} Immediate steps were taken to repair the damage, with the citizens of London and the clergy offering money to support the rebuilding.{{sfn|Dugdale|1658|pp=133–134}} However, the cost of repairing the building properly was too great for a country and city recovering from a trade depression. Instead, the roof was repaired, and a timber "roo"{{clarification needed|date=September 2023}} was put on the steeple.

In the 1630s, a west front was added to the building by England's first [[Classical architecture|classical]] architect, [[Inigo Jones]]. There was much defacing and mistreatment of the building by [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] forces during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], and the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed.{{sfn|Kelly|2004}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}} During the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]], those churchyard buildings that were razed supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, [[Somerset House]]. Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the churchyard, [[St Paul's Cross]], where open-air preaching took place.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

In the Great Fire of London of 1666, Old St Paul's was gutted.<ref>"The Survey of Building Sites in London after the Great Fire of 1666" Mills, P/ Oliver, J Vol I p59: [[Guildhall Library]] MS. 84 reproduced in facsimile, London, [[London Topographical Society]], 1946</ref> While it might have been possible to reconstruct it, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style. This course of action had been proposed even before the fire.

===St Paul's Theatre===

The St Paul's Theatre (1575-1606<ref name="shalt.dmu/st-pauls-1575">{{cite web |title=St Paul's, 1575-1606 |url=https://shalt.dmu.ac.uk/locations/st-pauls-1575-1606/indepth.html |website=Shakespearean London Theatres |publisher=[[De Montfort University]] |access-date=11 May 2025}}</ref>) was converted by Sebastian Westcott,<ref name="mumblewords/5-blossom">{{cite web |last1=Bullen |first1=Damian |title=The Young Shakespeare (5): Shakespeare's Blossom |url=https://mumblewords.uk/2021/01/02/the-young-shakespeare-5-shakespeares-blossom/ |website=Mumble Words |access-date=11 May 2025 |language=en |date=2 January 2021 |quote=A history enthusiast and poet from Burnley}}</ref> the cathedral's organist, from the Almoner's Hall of the cathedral. The genesis and layout was similar to [[Blackfriars Theatre]], but smaller. Music for organ was specified in a number of plays.<ref name="ou.ro.000107d4"/> The works were staged at the private St Paul's Theatre by the choristers of the St Paul's Cathedral.<ref name="ou.ro.000107d4">{{cite thesis |last1=Force |first1=David Robert Stuart |title='A Holding, Uniting-Constant Friend': The Organ in Seventeenth-Century English Domestic Music |journal=PhD Thesis |date=2019 |doi=10.21954/ou.ro.000107d4 |url=https://oro.open.ac.uk/67540/ |access-date=11 May 2025 |publisher=[[The Open University]]}}</ref> A boy company performed plays, without any involvement of adult actors.<ref name="shalt.dmu/st-pauls-1575"/> The boy actors at St Paul's were primarily choristers, playing to paying audiences.<ref name="shalt.dmu/st-pauls-1575"/>The boy companies were viewed as respectable, but played less frequently than the adult companies, and had little crowd trouble.<ref name="shalt.dmu/st-pauls-1575"/> The boy choristers of St Paul's Cathedral used the Almoner's Hall from 1575 until 1584.<ref name="Marsh/Shakespeare-Parish">{{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Geoffrey |title=Living with Shakespeare: Saint Helen's Parish, London, 1593-1598 |date=2021 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-1-4744-7972-1 |url=https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-living-with-shakespeare.html |language=en}}</ref>

===Present St Paul's===
[[File:Canaletto - St. Paul's Cathedral - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''[[St. Paul's Cathedral (painting)|St. Paul's Cathedral]]'' c. 1754, by [[Canaletto]]]]
[[File:St Pauls Cathedral in 1896.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|St Paul's Cathedral in 1896]]
The task of designing a replacement structure was officially assigned to Sir Christopher Wren on 30 July 1669.{{sfn|Campbell|2007|p=26}} He had previously been put in charge of the rebuilding of churches to replace those lost in the Great Fire. More than [[List of Christopher Wren churches in London|50 city churches]] are attributable to Wren. Concurrent with designing St Paul's, Wren was engaged in the production of his five ''Tracts'' on Architecture.{{sfn|Hart|2002}}

Wren had begun advising on the repair of the Old St Paul's' in 1661, five years before the fire in 1666.{{sfn|Campbell|2007|p=10}} The proposed work included renovations to the interior and exterior to complement the [[Classical revival|classical]] facade designed by Inigo Jones in 1630.{{sfn|Lang|1956|pp=47–63}} Wren planned to replace the dilapidated tower with a dome, using the existing structure as a scaffold. He produced a drawing of the proposed dome, which shows his idea that it should span the nave and aisles at the crossing.{{sfn|Summerson|1953|p=204}} After the Fire, it was at first thought possible to retain a substantial part of the old cathedral, but ultimately the entire structure was demolished in the early 1670s.

In July 1668, Dean [[William Sancroft]] wrote to Wren that he was charged by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], in agreement with the bishops of London and Oxford, to design a new cathedral that was "Handsome and noble to all the ends of it and to the reputation of the City and the nation."{{sfn|Summerson|1953|p=223}} The design process took several years, but a design was finally settled and attached to a royal warrant, with the proviso that Wren was permitted to make any further changes that he deemed necessary. The result was the present St Paul's Cathedral, still the second largest church in Britain, with a dome proclaimed as the finest in the world.{{sfn|Fletcher|1962|p=913}} The building was financed by a tax on coal and was completed within its architect's lifetime, with many of the major contractors engaged for the duration.

The "topping out" of the cathedral (when the final stone was placed on the lantern) took place on 26 October 1708, performed by Wren's son Christopher Jr and the son of one of the masons.{{sfn|Keene|Burn|Saint|2004|p=219}} The cathedral was declared officially complete by Parliament on 25 December 1711 (Christmas Day).{{sfn|Campbell|2007|p=161}} In fact, construction continued for several years after that, with the statues on the roof added in the 1720s. In 1716 the total costs amounted to £1,095,556{{sfn|Campbell|2007|p=69}} (£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|1095556|1716|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=-4}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}

====Consecration====
On 2 December 1697, 31 years and 3 months after the Great Fire destroyed Old St Paul's, the new cathedral was consecrated for use. The Right Reverend [[Henry Compton (bishop)|Henry Compton]], Bishop of London, preached the sermon. It was based on the text of [[Psalm 122]], "I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the Lord." The first regular service was held on the following Sunday.

Opinions of Wren's cathedral differed, with some loving it: "Without, within, below, above, the eye / Is filled with unrestrained delight",{{sfn|Wright|1693}}{{page needed|date=February 2016}} while others hated it: "There was an air of Popery about the gilded capitals, the heavy arches&nbsp;... They were unfamiliar, un-English&nbsp;...".{{sfn|Tinniswood|2001|p=315}}

===Since 1900===
====Suffragette terror attacks====
{{see also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}}
[[File:London - City of London Police Museum, Suffragette bombs.jpg|thumb|upright|A suffragette bomb (''right'') used in an attempted bombing of St. Paul's in 1913 ([[City of London Police Museum]])]]

St Paul's was the target of two [[suffragette]] bombing attacks in 1913 and 1914 respectively. This was as part of the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]] from 1912 and 1914 in which suffragettes from the [[Women's Social and Political Union]], as part of their campaign for [[women's suffrage]], carried out a series of politically motivated bombings and arson nationwide.<ref name="BL">{{cite web |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |website=British Library |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230074343/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=live }}</ref> Churches were explicitly targeted by the suffragettes as they believed the [[Church of England]] was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women's suffrage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Webb |first=Simon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ |title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists |year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-78340-064-5 |language=en |page=65 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729061006/https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1913 and 1914, 32 churches across Britain were attacked.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bearman |first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=120 |issue=486 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119 |jstor=3490924 |issn=0013-8266 |page=378 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=8 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008202337/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The first attack on St Paul's occurred on 8 May 1913, at the start of a sermon.<ref name="Jones">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjSwDQAAQBAJ |title=London: Bombed Blitzed and Blown Up: The British Capital Under Attack Since 1867 |year=2016 |publisher=Frontline Books |isbn=978-1-4738-7901-0 |language=en |pages=63–64 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=29 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729061006/https://books.google.com/books?id=IjSwDQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> A bomb was heard ticking and discovered as people were entering the cathedral.<ref name="Jones"/> It was made out of [[potassium nitrate]].<ref name="Jones"/> Had it exploded, the bomb likely would have destroyed the historic [[bishop's throne]] and other parts of the cathedral.<ref name="Jones"/> The remains of the device, which was made partly out of a mustard tin, are now on display at the [[City of London Police Museum]].<ref name="Jones"/>

A second bombing of the cathedral by the suffragettes was attempted on 13 June 1914, but the bomb was again discovered before it could explode.<ref name="BL"/> This attempted bombing occurred two days after a bomb had exploded at [[Westminster Abbey]], which damaged the [[Coronation Chair]] and caused a mass panic for the exits.<ref name="Jones"/> Several other churches were bombed at this time, such as [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] church in [[Trafalgar Square]] and the [[Metropolitan Tabernacle]].<ref name="BL"/>

====Great Restoration====
Early in the 20th century, concerns were raised about the effects of settlement on the dome and the [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] supporting it, confirmed by surveyors' reports in 1913 and 1914. An appeal for £70,000 allowed two of the piers to be reinforced, despite delays caused by the [[First World War]]. A second appeal for £100,000 in 1922 allowed the work to continue, but on Christmas Eve 1924, a Dangerous Structures Notice was served on the cathedral by the City Corporation.{{sfn|Burns|2004|pp=95-96}} Starting in March 1925, concrete and more than 250 steel bars were inserted into the piers, while a great steel chain was embedded around the outside of the dome to stabilise it. The high altar was moved to the nave, and the organ was rebuilt in the north aisle so that worship could continue while work went on behind a screen. When the work was finally completed, a grand rededication service was held on 25 June 1930; it was attended by King George V and Queen Mary and featured a procession of the 220 men who had worked on the restoration.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |title=Our Timeline – 1924 |url=https://www.stpauls.co.uk/our-timeline |website=www.stpauls.co.uk |location=London |publisher=Corporation of the Cathedral Church of St Paul in London |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref> The service was broadcast on [[BBC Radio]], the first time that worship had been broadcast from the cathedral, as it had previously been opposed by the Dean and Chapter.<ref>{{cite book |last=Briggs |first=Asa |author-link=Asa Briggs |date= 23 March 1995|title=The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom: Volume II: The Golden Age of Wireless |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bdfNTH-jrrIC&pg=PA224 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=224 |isbn=978-0192129307 |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref>
 
====War damage====
[[File:Stpaulsblitz.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and White photograph of the dome of St Paul's, starkly lit, appearing through billowing clouds of smoke|The iconic ''[[St Paul's Survives]]'', taken on 29 December 1940 of St Paul's during [[the Blitz]]]]
The cathedral survived [[the Blitz]] although it was struck by bombs on 10 October 1940 and 17 April 1941. The first strike destroyed the high altar, while the second strike on the north transept left a hole in the floor above the crypt.{{sfn|Jardine|2006}}<ref name=EI /> The latter bomb is believed to have detonated in the upper interior above the north transept, and the force was sufficient to shift the entire dome laterally by a small amount.{{sfn|The Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral|2014}}{{sfn|Geffen|2014}}

On 12 September 1940, a time-delayed bomb that had struck the cathedral was successfully defused and removed by a [[bomb disposal]] detachment of [[Royal Engineers]] under the command of Temporary Lieutenant [[Robert Davies (GC)|Robert Davies]]. Had this bomb detonated, it would have totally destroyed the cathedral; it left a {{convert|100|ft|m|adj=on}} crater when later remotely detonated in a secure location.<ref name=33EngineerRegiment /> As a result of this action, Davies and [[Sapper]] [[George Cameron Wylie]] were each awarded the [[George Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34956 |supp=y|pages=5767–5768|date=27 September 1940}}</ref> Davies' George Cross and other medals are on display at the [[Imperial War Museum]], London.

One of the best known images of London during the war was a photograph of St Paul's taken on 29 December 1940 during the "[[Second Great Fire of London]]" by photographer Herbert Mason,{{efn|Not to be confused with an identically named [[Herbert Mason|film director]].}} from the roof of a building in Tudor Street showing the cathedral shrouded in smoke. [[Lisa Jardine]] of [[Queen Mary, University of London]], has written:{{sfn|Jardine|2006}}

{{quote|Wreathed in billowing smoke, amidst the chaos and destruction of war, the pale dome stands proud and glorious—indomitable. At the height of that air-raid, Sir Winston Churchill telephoned the Guildhall to insist that all fire-fighting resources be directed at St Paul's. The cathedral must be saved, he said, damage to the fabric would sap the morale of the country.}}

====Post-war====
A considerable amount of rebuilding and restoration of war damage was undertaken in the 1950s and 1960s; including the high altar and American Memorial Chapel completed in 1958, the damaged North Transept in 1962, the cleaning of the west front in 1961-1963, the repair of damage to the dome from anti-aircraft fire completed in 1967 and the building of a new choir school building in 1967.{{sfn|Burns|2004|pp=103-105}}

On 29 July 1981, the [[wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer]] was held at the cathedral. The couple selected St Paul's over [[Westminster Abbey]], the traditional site of royal weddings, because the cathedral offered more seating.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Miller |first1=Julie |title=Inside Princess Diana's Royal Wedding Fairy Tale |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/04/princess-diana-royal-wedding |access-date=1 June 2021 |magazine=Vanity Fair}}</ref>

Extensive copper, lead, and slate renovation work was carried out on the Dome in 1996 by John B. Chambers. A 15-year restoration project—one of the largest ever undertaken in the UK—was completed on 15 June 2011.<ref name=bbc20110615 />

====Occupy London====
[[File:Julian Assange speaking at Occupy London protest.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Julian Assange]] speaks at the Occupy London outside the cathedral in the City of London on 15 October 2011.]]
In October 2011, a misguided anti-capitalism [[Occupy London]] encampment was established in front of the cathedral, after failing to gain access to the [[London Stock Exchange]] at Paternoster Square nearby. The cathedral's finances were affected by the ensuing closure. It was claimed that the cathedral was losing revenue of £20,000 per day.{{sfn|Walker|Butt|2011}} Canon Chancellor [[Giles Fraser]] resigned, asserting his view that "evicting the anti-capitalist activists would constitute violence in the name of the Church".{{sfn|Ward|2011}} The [[Dean of St Paul's]], the Right Revd Graeme Knowles, then resigned too.{{sfn|Walker|2011}} The encampment was evicted at the end of February 2012, by court order and without violence, as a result of legal action by the [[City of London Corporation]].<ref name=bbc20120228 />

====2019 terrorist plot====
On 10 October 2019, [[Safiyya Amira Shaikh]], a [[Muslim convert]], was arrested following an [[MI5]] and [[Metropolitan Police]] investigation. In September 2019, she had taken photographs of the cathedral's interior. While trying to [[radicalise]] others using the [[Telegram (software)|Telegram messaging software]], she [[St Paul's Cathedral bomb plot|planned to attack]] the cathedral and other targets such as a hotel and a train station using [[explosive]]s. Shaikh [[plea]]ded guilty and was [[sentence (law)|sentenced]] to [[life imprisonment]].<ref>{{cite web |date=3 July 2020 |title=Woman jailed for life following triple-bomb plot conviction |url=https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/woman-jailed-for-life-following-triple-bomb-plot-conviction/ |access-date=27 July 2020 |website=Counter Terrorism Policing |language=en-US |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727065148/https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/woman-jailed-for-life-following-triple-bomb-plot-conviction/ |url-status=live }}</ref>