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Fig. 7. St Paul’s Cathedral. South elevation and half-plan as built, showing the main phases of construction from 1675 to 1688 (Richard Lea and Gordon Higgott)

2. The Design in the First Phase, 1675-85

After the rejection of the Great Model in the latter part of 1674, Wren prepared several designs for a new Cathedral on a cruciform plan.

candles prayer worship mourning

Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer is a simple, short spoken service which takes place at 7.30am on Monday to Saturday. It lasts for around 25 minutes.

Every weekday at 7.30am

Free and unticketed

Fig. 1. ‘The Revised design’: South elevation, drawn by Hawksmoor, c.1686 (© All Souls College, Oxford, G.81)

3. Upper elevations and west end, c. 1685

The dramatic increase in funding from 1686 was the main factor behind a major revision to the design that can be dated from mid-1685.

2.9.1 WRE_6_1_5 (D143)_Lead image

6. The western towers, c. 1685-1710

Wren had always intended a belfry in one of the towers at the west end of the Cathedral.

Fig. 3. Study by Hawksmoor in half-elevation, section and plan, for a mausoleum-like rotunda on the west side of the piazza, c.1696–97 (WRE/7/1/3)

7. Churchyard and paving and miscellaneous drawings, c. 1690-1713

The earliest known scheme to improve the Cathedral churchyard is an outline study by Wren and Hawksmoor, drawn over a survey of the whole precinct prepared by William Dickinson.

the cathedral dome seen from south of the river

Terms and conditions of entry

Understand the terms and conditions of entering our building, whether for sightseeing or events.

Fig. 1. Engraving of the north elevation, probably by Simon Gribelin, c.1687–88, with cut-outs from a later engraving of the finished dome (St Paul’s Cathedral, SP105)

5. Designs for the Dome, c. 1685-1710

Wren’s revisions to the design in 1685–86 created a podium for a vast, richly modelled Dome, inspired by those of Michelangelo’s St Peter’s in Rome and Jules Hardouin-Mansart’s Invalides church in Paris.