Before the current landmark, St Paul's was a chaotic social hub and business exchange.
Long before it was a quiet place of worship, Old St Paul's Cathedral served as the beating heart of London's social and commercial life. Known as Paul's Walk, the nave was a bustling marketplace where news, gossip, and business deals were traded amidst the hum of a thousand voices.
Old St Paul's Cathedral, which stood on Ludgate Hill until the Great Fire of 1666, was a sprawling architectural evolution. Construction began in 1087 following a fire, with the design shifting from Norman Romanesque to Early English Gothic over two centuries. By the mid-14th century, it was one of the world's longest churches, featuring a massive spire that reached an estimated 460 to 520 feet. The cathedral was a major pilgrimage site, housing the shrine of the 7th-century bishop Saint Erkenwald, which was lavishly adorned with gold and precious stones.
Beyond its religious function, the cathedral became a secular epicenter. By the 15th century, the nave aisle, nicknamed Paul's Walk, functioned as a business center and a clearinghouse for news. Visitors, known as Paul's walkers, gathered to discuss state affairs, trade rumors, and conduct commerce. The atmosphere was often described as a chaotic, buzzing marketplace, leading to complaints from bishops about the selling of wares and the presence of thieves and prostitutes within the sacred walls. During the English Civil War, the building suffered further indignity, with Parliamentarian forces using the nave as a stable for cavalry horses.
The cathedral's physical decline was marked by the loss of its spire to a lightning strike in 1561, which melted the lead roof like lava. Restoration efforts by Inigo Jones in the 1620s were interrupted by the Civil War, and the building was eventually deemed beyond repair. Sir Christopher Wren, appointed to oversee restoration after the monarchy's return, famously advocated for total demolition. His assessment of the original builders' lack of accuracy paved the way for the construction of the present cathedral, leaving only fragments like John Donne's monument to survive the 1666 inferno.
Source: Old St Paul's Cathedral
