Archie Wilson - Writer
St Paul’s Cathedral
One of London’s most iconic and elegant landmarks, St Paul’s provides a place of Christian reflection within the grinding heart of the City of London. You will however, find your visit accompanied by school groups, snap-happy tourists and the occasional strange, prostrate pilgrim so choose your time to visit wisely. My own early June visit beat the high summer crowds andspring showers in the morning scared off some of the less pious of visitors.
The exterior of St Paul’s is famed globally, majestic yet humble, it stands modestly besides some of London’s less architecturally sound modern structures. And thankfully when rebuilding the church Wren’s arrogance surpassed that of the clueless city planners of his day, choosing to build his original design rather than the lank Warrant design that had been approved. As the only Renaissance cathedral in Britain it stands in an architectural field of its own.
Inside it fulfils all the expectations one might have of a church, and it does it quite well. It has a nave, an altar, a choir, statues of people you have heard of, haven’t heard of, and should have heard of. Walk through the pews dodging families engrossed in audio-tours and, if divine intervention takes you, you might turn your head skyward to see typical religious scenes across the ceilings. The best of which are above the choir, closest to Wren’s design, the gold mosaic tiles is certainly the most interesting.
If you want to walk closer to God then St. Paul’s isn’t the most taxing of churches to climb. Despite this you will still undoubtedly get stuck in queues behind less able visitors and the overly shallow initial flight of stairs to the Whispering Gallery makes for a frustratingly slow ascent. Sit here to get back any breath lost and take in the view from the middle height of the dome.
Once recovered continue your climb to the exterior stone gallery and some of the best views of London’s skyline. The stone gallery is spacious enough to move about freely and low enough to see detail of the streets below, and One New Change’s aimless sloping roofs.
Go higher to the Golden Gallery, the highest you will get on a prole’s ticket. The view is certainly worth the climb but arguably not the price of the ticket. From here, provided you are able to move around the narrow floor space and are not caught behind a tourist’s oversized backpack while he snaps away on his Digital SLR set to auto, you can see all of London and far beyond. The hills, that you rarely realise are there when working or living in central, stand out on the horizon and define London’s sprawling outer districts. Alexandria Palace just viewable to the north and all of the city’s modern skyscrapers, complete and in construction, blot and contort to the east. And that needle, now eternally in London’s eye, The Shard, present as always.
St Paul’s is an icon. Reborn from fire this phoenix rose above London as a symbol of a new London, majestic, thoughtful and a little bit religious. It survived The Blitz to now be swamped under rapid rise skyscrapers: vulgar glass boxes that will last only as long as they are worth more than the land they stand on. Corporate greed pinches pennies from the pockets of every man or woman, rich or poor. St Paul’s is a tourist attraction included in guidebooks alongside the Tower of London, the London Eye, the London Dungeons and London St Pancras International. Included in high-speed, fast talking euro-family holidays that believe money burnt is money earned, shopping is existential, God is a four letter word. That things are for pictures, not to be looked at. Stories are concise, current and digital. They don’t think audio tours look stupid and that they’re useful.
In truth they fit in with modern London. They are who it is being built for. Their pace matches the city folk even if it is in another direction. They bring money not time to the city; bumbling if law-abiding, English speaking, economy restoring, queen cheering and flag waving, we Londoner’s should not be too hard on the nouveau-touriste. St Paul’s was intended to be a hub and a centre for London, it is only natural that they flock to it.