Editing St Paul's Cathedral (section)

===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.