Page 9 - 10052 WORSH Marketor Issue 79.indd

Behind the scenes

at the cathedral Mary Peterkin

Liveryman

It was a dark and damp Friday afternoon in early March when 15 of us gathered inside St
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Jill began by giving us externally and constructed in order to view Wren’s Great Model,
some insight into the history a ‘false’ wall on the outside the 1:25 scale model based on an
of St Paul’s. Wren’s to hide them and so early design for the cathedral in the
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site. There has been a the cathedral.
church here since 604 and We were also able to The last stop on our tour was the
geometric spiral staircase made
it was the fourth cathedral
which was destroyed in the DSSUHFLDWH ÀUVW KDQG WKH IDPRXV WKURXJK PDQ\ ÀOPV RYHU WKH
stunning mosaics on the
years including Harry Potter and
Great Fire of London in
1666. ceilings, added in Victorian more recently Paddington 2.
times; the ‘stone library’ a
Although not an experienced display of stones dating from the Having ended the tour, we made our
way back down for Evensong, where
architect at that point, Wren was earlier cathedrals and the bust of
appointed to design the current George Cruikshank, artist and we were shown to our seats in the
Quire. As members of the Worshipful
cathedral which took 35 years to Dickens illustrator, whose remains are
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welcomed by the Minister before
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Anglican faith. We then proceeded to the library, enjoying a beautiful choral
where we learned about this year’s evensong, sung entirely without
It was in World War II that St Paul’s plan to remove the 20,000 plus accompaniment.
Cathedral took on the iconic status volumes of books and pamphlets to Last but not least, our evening was
we know today. It was Herbert enable a programme of works to
Mason’s ‘St Paul’s Survives’ photo clean and conserve the ‘fabric’ of rounded off by a very convivial
supper at the nearby Coppa Club.
taken during the Blitz in December WKLV PDJQLÀFHQW URRP
1940 which captured people’s hearts As we crossed to
and has made the cathedral the
special place it is today. the other side of
the Triforium, we
We started our tour by climbing 140 VWRSSHG EULHÁ\
plus steps until we reached a locked on the bridge to
door. This door led us into the admire the great
Triforium, the narrow gallery which view of the
runs around the inside the cathedral, nave, a familiar
hidden from view. The Triforium gave sight to many, as
us our ‘behind the scenes’ tour and this is where
proved to be quite a treasure trove. cameras are
located when
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buttresses. While these were an
essential part of the building, Wren We then entered
had not wanted them to be visible the Trophy Room

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