 lthough Westminster Abbey holds the distinction as being the church where kings and queens have been crowned since Harold, St. Paul's is where the people of the country turn to in times of national crisis and rejoicing. The present Cathedral is possibly the third or fourth religious building to be constructed on the site. The land on which the cathedral is built is the highest in the area and as such was the most likely location for such a building. During excavation work in 1830, a stone alter with a sculpture of Diana was found and this indicates that there was a temple dedicated to Diana on the site at the time of the Romans. The Saxons also built a temple here and Ethelbert, King of Kent built a Cathedral. |
Mini Timeline
| 962 |
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St. Paul's burns down
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The church of St. Paul's built by Ethelbert burnt down this year. |
| 1087 |
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St. Paul's Cathedral Burns down
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Work on rebuilding St. Paul's Cathedral started after the Old St. Paul's burnt down and a good deal of London as well. The person in charge of the rebuilding work was Mauritius, chaplain to William the Conqueror and Bishop of London. The new Cathedral was reportedly extremely large. |
| 1136 |
Jan |
A fire at St. Paul's
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Reconstruction work on the Cathedral at St. Paul's had been going on since the last major fire of 1087, and this fire again did much damage to the building. |
| 1240 |
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Building work at St. Paul's complete
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The central tower and the choir had been rebuilt during the first part of the thirteenth century and by 1240, building work was completed. Some changes were made at the end of this century, but then no major alterations occurred until after the Reformation. |
| 1314 |
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Old St. Paul's Cathedral completed
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Work on the old St. Paul's Cathedral was finally completed in this year.1 |
| Early Modern Period (1500-1800) - Under Construction |
| 1509 |
Apr 21 |
Death of Henry VII
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Henry fell in and within just over a day he died of the illness. His body was first moved to St. Paul's and then to Westminster Abbey where he was buried next to his wife.2 |
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