Paternoster Row and St Paul’s Cathedral
I borrowed this book from @anyawen and it has some wonderful resources in it for those fic writers who are siting their stories in London, particularly if you are putting your story in a historical period.
Alas, when this was written in 1923, queer meant “odd” rather than LGBQT+, but I still think it has value. I plan to share a number of things from it, starting with an area I know particularly well because I used to work in an investment bank on Paternoster Row.
The area is a brilliant example of how London was forced to “re-invent” itself after WW2 and the massive amount of damage inflicted on its buildings. There have been at least four churches on the site of Ludgate Hill as the area was once known. One burnt down in 1087 and then rebuilding took almost 200 years - interrupted by yet another fire in 1135.
The Gothic cathedral of St Paul’s was consecrated in the 13th century, enlarged in the 14th century, and probably looked like this:
In 1561, the cathedral was in a poor state of repair, and a fire destroyed the spire, sending it crashing through the roof. The roof was repaired but the steeple was not rebuilt. Some attempts were made to restore and repair the church in the early 17th century, but all work stopped when the English Civil War broke out; Cromwell’s “parliamentary forces” kept horses in the nave!
When the monarchy was restored, work began again, this time with a classical theme. Inigo Jones designed a portico for the western door, the tower was to be taken down and replaced by a dome. But before much could be done, in 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed the rest of the cathedral - in part because it was covered in wooden scaffolding to aid in the restoration.
Paternoster Row was between the old Grey Friars and the Blackfriars monasteries, and once entirely ecclesiastical in its character. It got its name from the stationers and text-writers who dwelt there and sold religious and educational books, alphabets, paternosters, aves, creeds, and graces. It then became famous for its spurriers, and afterwards for eminent mercers, silkmen, and lacemen; so that the coaches of the "quality" often blocked up the whole street
When Harper wrote his book in 1923, Paternoster Row was home to almost all of London’s publishing houses.
It was nothing short of a miracle that in WW2 St Paul’s Cathedral was not destroyed - especially when you see what happened to Paternoster Row and the whole area north of the cathedral. This is the result of one night’s bombing on 29 December 1940.
It was re-built by the 1960s- into a series of mid-rise office blocks.
My investment bank was in the lower building right next to the cathedral- only 5 floors. From 1980 until 1996, there was a huge dispute about how it should be re-developed and made “more in keeping” with the cathedral
Paternoster Square as the area became known eventually received planning consent in 1996 and was knocked down and rebuilt. Now it houses the London Stock Exchange and three major investment banks, plus a lot of cafes’ coffee shops and restaurants on the ground floors. This is the view from St Paul’s Cathedral to the area.
For you Sherlock fans, that’s the Old Bailey court dome at the far left.
A point worth remembering is that if you site your stories in any time other than the immediate present, you need to do your research to see how things have changed. When Sherlock returned from his hiatus, he would have found a surprising number of changes had happened in only the two years he was away.
