St. Paul’s Cathedral.—This is the most prominent object in the metropolis. The lofty dome, seen for miles around, stands in the centre of an enclosed churchyard of limited dimensions, at the head of Ludgate Hill. A church is said to have existed here four hundred years before the Norman conquest; and, under various shapes and extensions, it remained till destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. An entirely new edifice was then erected in its stead, the important work being committed to Sir Christopher Wren. It was opened for divine service in 1697, and finished in 1710—one architect and one master-mason having been engaged on it for 35 years. [47a] The cathedral is built in the form of a cross, 514 feet in length by 286 in breadth. [47b] Outwardly, the walls, which have a dark sooty appearance, except where bleached by the weather, exhibit a double range of windows. There are three porticos at as many entrances on the north, west, and south. That on the west is the principal, with twelve lofty Corinthian pillars below, and a second order carrying the pediment above; the angles are crowned with handsome bell-towers, much larger than ordinary church steeples, and 222 feet high. St. Paul’s Cathedral and Churchyard, from Ludgate Hill But this entrance, which fronts Ludgate Hill, is not much used; the common entrance is by the north portico and flight of steps. On entering, the impression produced by the vastness of the internal space is great, although the walls want something in tone and relief. (Subscriptions are being gradually raised for richly adorning the interior.) There are two domes, an outer and an inner, having a brick cone between them. The inner dome has six paintings relating to events in the life of St. Paul: they were painted by Sir James Thornhill, and have recently been renovated. In the choir is much beautiful carving, by Grinling Gibbons. In various parts of the cathedral are statues and monuments of John Howard, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Bishop Heber, Nelson, Cornwallis, Abercrombie, Sir John Moore, Lord Heathfield, Howe, Rodney, Collingwood, St. Vincent, Picton, Ponsonby, and others. In the Crypt beneath are the tombs of Wellington, Nelson, Wren, Collingwood, Picton, Reynolds, Lawrence, Opie, West, Fuseli, Turner, Rennie, and other eminent men. Service is performed on Sundays at 10.30 a.m. and 3.15 p.m.; on week-days at 8.0, 10.0, and 4.0. A screen, on which the organ stood, has lately been removed, throwing open the beautiful choir to view from the nave. The organ has been placed on the north side of the choir. Several times in the year service is performed under the dome on Sunday evenings by gaslight; and an additional organ for this service has been set up in the south transept. The appearance of the dome at these times, with a soft light shed around it, is extremely beautiful; and the congregation generally assembled is enormous. If the stranger pleases to pay the required fees, he may mount, by means of stairs and ladders, to the top of the dome; and he will be amply repaid by the extensive view from the balcony or gallery, which comprehends the whole of London, with the country beyond its outskirts, and the Thames rolling placidly in its winding course between dense masses of houses. The Whispering Gallery, at the bottom of the inner dome, renders audible the slightest whisper from side to side. The Library contains chiefly ecclesiastical works for the use of the Chapter. The two Golden Galleries are at the top of the inner and outer domes. The Ball and Cross, reached by more than 600 steps, are at the summit of the building; the ball, about 6 feet in diameter, is reached with some difficulty. The Clock-work and Great Bell always attract the notice of visitors. The pendulum measures 14 feet in length, while the mass at its extremity is one hundredweight. The great bell, which is only tolled when a member of the royal family dies, is placed in the southern turret above the western portico; it weighs 4½ tons, and is 10 feet in diameter. The fine deep tones of this mighty bell, on which the hours are struck, sweep solemnly, in a quiet evening, across the metropolis, and are at times heard distinctly by families at their firesides far out in the suburbs. Altogether, St. Paul’s is a magnificent structure; and though it cost a million and a-half of money in the erection—a great sum in the seventeenth century—the amount was well spent on so worthy an object. St. Paul’s is open, during the greater part of the day, free to the public, but no place is exhibited during divine service.—Fee for admission to the whispering gallery and the two outer galleries, 6d.; the ball, 1s. 6d.; the clock, great bell, library, and geometrical staircase, 6d.; and the crypt, 6d.

Tomb of Nelson—crypt

Westminster Abbey.—Nearly opposite the Houses of Parliament stands Westminster Abbey, open to inspection on the north, west, and east, but much crowded upon by private dwellings on the south. In very early times this spot of ground was a small insular tract, surrounded by the waters of the Thames, and called Thorney Island. Here a monastic institution was founded on the introduction of Christianity into Britain. Under Edward the Confessor an abbey was raised upon the site of the ruined monastic building. The ground-plan, as usual, bore the form of the cross. Rights and endowments were granted; and the edifice assumed a great degree of architectural grandeur. It had become the place for the inauguration of the English monarchs; and William the Conqueror was crowned here with great pomp in 1066. Henry III. and Edward I. enlarged the abbey; and the building continued nearly in the state in which they left it, until Henry VII. added a chapel, built in the perpendicular style, on which the greatest skill of the architect and the sculptor was displayed; exhibiting one of the most splendid structures of the age, and so highly esteemed, that it was enjoined that the remains of royalty alone should be interred within its walls. During the reign of Henry VIII., the abbey was considerably defaced; but on the surrender of its revenues, Henry raised Westminster to the dignity of a city, and its abbey was constituted a cathedral. It was, however, afterwards re-united to the see of London, in 1550. (An archbishopric of Westminster, created by the Pope a few years ago, is connected only with Roman Catholic matters, and is not recognised by the English law.) Westminster Abbey, during the reign of William and Mary, was thoroughly repaired, and the towers added at the western entrance, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. These towers, however, though good in outline and general mass, are not in harmony with the rest of the building. The length of the abbey is 416 feet; breadth at the transept, 203 feet; and at the nave, 102 feet; height of the west towers, 225 feet. The exterior measurement, including Henry VII.’s Chapel, is 530 feet.

Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church

On entering at the great western door between the towers, the magnificence of the abbey soon becomes apparent. The interior displays grand masses of marble columns separating the nave from the side aisles. A screen, surmounted by a noble organ, divides the nave from the choir; while beyond the eye soars, amid graceful columns, tracery, and decorated windows, to the summit of the eastern arch that overlooks the adjacent chapels. The walls on both sides display a great profusion of sepulchral monuments, among which are some finely executed pieces of sculpture, and touching memorials of those whose exploits or exertions have deserved the notice of posterity; but too many, unfortunately, are in very bad taste. Above the line of tombs are chambers and galleries, once occupied by ecclesiastics; solemn and dreary in their antiquity, though relieved by occasional sunbeams glancing across the misty height of the nave. The northern window is richly ornamented with stained glass.

Westminster Abbey—Chapel of Henry VII.

The Chapel of Edward the Confessor is at the eastern end of the choir, and contains the shrine of St. Edward: that it was an exquisite piece of workmanship, is evident even in its decay. Here also is the coronation-chair, under which is placed the celebrated stone brought from Scone, in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1297. The Chapel of Henry VII. is also at the eastern end; and among the ashes of many royal personages interred here are those of Mary and Elizabeth. The ascent to this splendid work of Gothic art is by steps of black marble. The entrance gates display workmanship of extraordinary richness in brass. The effect produced on entering this chapel is striking: the roof is wrought in stone into an astonishing variety of figures and devices; the stalls are of oak, having the deep tone of age, with Gothic canopies, all elaborately carved. Here, before the remodelling of the order, used to be installed the knights of the Order of the Bath. In their stalls are placed brass plates of their armorial insignia, and above are suspended their banners, swords, and helmets; beneath the stalls are seats for the esquires. The pavement is composed of black and white marble; beneath which is the royal vault. The magnificent tomb of Henry VII. and his queen stands in the body of this chapel, in a curious chantry of cast brass, admirably executed, and interspersed with effigies, armorial bearings, and devices relating to the union of the red and white roses.

The number of statues and monuments in Westminster Abbey is very great. Most of them are contained in side-chapels, of which there are several: viz., St. Benedict’s, St. Edmund’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Paul’s, St. Erasmus’s, John the Baptist’s, and Bishop Islip’s; besides Henry VII.’s and Edward the Confessor’s Chapels, already mentioned. These Chapels contain about ninety monuments and shrines, some of great beauty. The Choir, the Transept, and the Nave, also contain a large amount of sculpture—many specimens in wretched taste, by the side of some of the first works of Flaxman, Chantrey, Roubiliac, Nollekins, Bacon, Westmacott, Gibson, Behnes, and others. Poets’ Corner, occupying about half of the south transept, is a famous place for the busts and monuments of eminent men—including Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Drayton, Ben Jonson, Milton, Butler, Davenant, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay, Addison, Thomson, Goldsmith, Gray, Mason, Sheridan, Southey, Campbell, &c. Lord Macaulay and Lord Palmerston were recently buried in the Abbey—the one in January, 1860; the other in October, 1865. William Makepeace Thackeray does not lie there, but at Kensal Green, though his bust is placed next to the statue of Joseph Addison. On the 14th June, 1870, Charles Dickens was interred there. His grave is situated at the foot of the coffin of Handel, and at the head of the coffin of R. B. Sheridan, and between the coffins of Lord Macaulay and Cumberland the dramatist. Near to England’s great humorist, towards his feet, lie Dr. Johnson and Garrick, while near them lies Thomas Campbell. Shakespeare’s monument is not far from the foot of the grave. Goldsmith’s is on the left. A monumental brass, to the memory of Robert Stephenson, has recently been inlaid in the floor of the nave. The Cloisters and the Chapter House contain some curious old effigies.

Westminster Abbey is a collegiate church, with a dean and chapter, who possess a considerable authority over the adjoining district, and a revenue of about £30,000 per annum. The abbey may be considered as sub-divided into chapels; but in the present day divine service (at 7.45,10, and 3) is performed only in a large enclosed space near the eastern extremity of the building—except on Sunday evenings during a portion of the year, when service is performed in the nave, in a similar way to the Sunday evening services under the dome of St. Paul’s. This evening service, at 7 o’clock, is very striking in effect. There are usually a considerable number of strangers present at the services, particularly at that on Sunday evenings. The entrance chiefly used is that at Poets’ Corner, nearly opposite the royal entrance to the Houses of Parliament; but on Sunday evenings the great western entrance is used. There is admittance every week-day free to the chief parts of the building, and to other parts on payment of a fee of 6d.

Parish and District Churches.—When we consider that the metropolis contains nearly 1000 churches and chapels, it may well be conceived that only a few of them can be noticed here. In addition to St. Paul’s and the Abbey, the following are worth the notice of strangers. St. Michael’s, Cornhill, has lately been restored and re-decorated in an elaborate manner by Mr. Gilbert Scott. St. Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, which has been lately restored, was once the choir and transepts of a priory church; it is interesting, not only for some of its monuments, but for the varieties of Norman and Gothic styles which it exhibits. St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, close to the Mansion House, is especially worthy of attention; as the interior is considered to be one of Wren’s happiest conceptions. Bow Church, or the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, occupies a conspicuous position on the south side of Cheapside, and has a spire of great elegance, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The clock projects over the street from the lower part of the tower. Standing as this church does, in the centre of the city, those who are born within the sound of its bells are jocularly called Cockneys, a name equivalent to genuine citizens. St. Stephen’s, Walbrook The consecration of the Bishop of London takes place at Bow Church. St. Bride’s, Fleet Street, is adorned with one of the most beautiful of Sir Christopher Wren’s steeples. The Temple Church is described in the section relating to the Temple and other Inns of Court. St. Saviour’s is by far the most important parish church on the Surrey side of the water. It is near the foot of London Bridge, on the west side of High Street, Southwark. It originally belonged to the Priory of St. Mary Overy, but was made a parish church in 1540. The Choir and the Lady Chapel are parts of the original structure, and are excellent examples of the early English style; they have been restored in the present century. Many other parts of the building deserve notice. The Savoy Church, between the Strand and the Thames, near Waterloo Bridge, was once the Chapel of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist; it was destroyed by fire in 1864, and re-built in 1866. St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, built by Inigo Jones, is noticeable for its massive Doric portico. St. James’s, Piccadilly, one of the least sightly of brick churches outside, has an interior which exhibits Wren’s skill in a striking degree. St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square, has always been admired for its elegant spire and portico, constructed by Gibbs. St. George’s, Hanover Square, is chiefly celebrated for the fashionable marriages that take place there; the exterior, is, however, picturesque. Whitehall Chapel was originally intended as part of a royal residence. It is, in fact, the Banqueting House of the palace of Whitehall, the only remaining portion of what was once an extensive pile. The former brick structure is entirely gone. The present edifice, built by Inigo Jones in the time of James I., is considered to be one of the finest specimens of Italian architecture in England. Charles I. was executed on a scaffold erected in front of one of the windows. The interior of Whitehall is about 112 feet long, 56 wide, and 56 high, forming exactly a double cube; the ceiling is painted by Rubens, with mythological designs in honour of James I. The building, being appropriated to no other use, was converted into a chapel in the time of George I., and was modernized in the interior, about 30 years ago, by Sir Robert Smirke. Old St. Pancras Church, in Pancras Road, a small but venerable structure, has in recent years been altered and adapted as a District Church. Its churchyard was remarkable for the number of artists and other eminent persons interred in it; at one time it was the great metropolitan burial-place for Roman Catholics, and consequently an unusual number of foreigners of celebrity, French emigrÉs during the Reign of Terror, &c., were buried there. Recently, however, the old graveyard has been sadly cut about by the pickaxes and shovels of railway excavators, engaged by the Midland Railway, which passes thereby.

It is worthy of note, that Sir Christopher Wren built the large number of fifty-three churches in London after the Great Fire. Nearly all of them are still standing. Among the most noted are St. Paul’s; Bow Church; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; St. Bride’s; St. Andrew’s, Holborn; St. Sepulchre’s; St. Antholin’s, Watling Street; Christ Church, Newgate; St. Clement Danes; St. Dunstan’s-in-the-East; St. James’s, Piccadilly; St. Lawrence, Jewry; St. Magnus, London Bridge; St. Martin’s, Ludgate; and St. Mary, Aldermanbury.

Among churches and chapels of the Establishment, of more recent date, the following are worth looking at:—New St. Pancras, near the Euston Railway Station, is the most notable example in London of an imitative Greek temple; it was built by Messrs. Inwood, in 1822, and cost nearly £80,000. St. Marylebone, in the Marylebone Road, built by Mr. Hardwick in 1817, cost £60,000; the interior is heavy in appearance, having two tiers of galleries; in few London churches, however, is divine service, according to the established ritual, performed on a more impressive scale. St. Stephen’s, Westminster, in Rochester Row, was built wholly at the expense of Miss Burdett Coutts, and is a fine example of revived Gothic; the choral service on Sundays is grand and complete. St. Paul’s, at Knightsbridge, and St. Barnabas, at Pimlico, especially the latter, are noticeable for the mediÆval revivals, in arrangements and in service, which belong to what is called the high-church party. All Saints’ Church, Margaret Street, is, perhaps, the most sumptuous of modern London churches. Although small, it cost £60,000. Mr. Butterfield was the architect. The exterior is of red and black brick, very mediÆval in appearance. The interior is ornate, with polished granite piers, alabaster capitals, coloured marble decorations, stained-glass windows, and frescoes by Dyce. St. James the Less, in Garden Street, Westminster, is a truly remarkable specimen of coloured-brick architecture, both within and without; Mr. Street was the architect; and the cost was defrayed by the daughters of the late Dr. Monk, Bishop of Gloucester. A very noteworthy and costly brick church has been constructed in Baldwin’s Gardens, Gray’s Inn Lane, from the designs of Mr. Butterfield, and at the sole cost of Mr. J. G. Hubbard. It is dedicated to St. Alban. The Rev. A. Mackonochie, whose extreme ritualistic views have several times brought his name prominently before the public, was the incumbent.

Catholic, Dissenting, and Jewish Places of Worship.—It is almost impossible to give an exact enumeration of the places of worship in London, seeing that so many new ones are in the course of building. But the following figures, based on information supplied by the London Post-Office Directory, and otherwise, will, it is hoped, be found to convey a very fair approximate notion on the subject. In that Directory, then, there will be found the names of about 100 city parishes. But of these, some 40 have, of late years, been united to other parishes. Thus, All Hallow’s, Honey Lane, is united with St. Mary-le-Bow; St. Mary Magdalen, in Milk Street, is united with St. Lawrence, Jewry; and so forth. Many of the parishes so united have their own churches now closed, or in course of demolition, and worship is provided for them at the churches of the particular parishes into which they have been merged. Without counting the city proper, there are, in London, 50 parish churches, and at least 300 district churches and chapels belonging to the Church of England. The Roman Catholics have 41 churches and chapels, without reckoning sundry religious houses. The Wesleyans have 152. The recognised Dissenters from the Wesleyan body have 4; the Baptists, 109; the Independents, 109; the United Methodist Free Church, 27; Primitive Methodists, 16; the Unitarians, 8; Methodist New Connexion, 8; the Quakers, 5; the Presbyterians (English) 15; the Church of Scotland, 5; the Calvinists have 2; the Calvinistic Methodists, 3; the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, 4. The Jews have 12 Synagogues; there are 3 French Protestant churches; 9 German (Reformed) churches and chapels; Swiss Protestant, 1; Swedenborgians, 2; Plymouth Brethren, 3; Catholic Apostolic (not Roman) 6; 1 Swedish, and 1 Greek church; 1 Russian chapel, and 3 meeting-houses of Free Christians; 1 Moravian; and some 40 other places for public worship, belonging to miscellaneous denominations. Of Roman Catholic churches, the chief is St. George’s Cathedral, near Bethlehem Hospital—a very large, but heavy Gothic structure; the tower has never been finished for want of funds. The Tabernacle The service here is more complete than at any other Roman Catholic structure in England. St. Mary’s, near Moorfields; the Spanish Chapel, near Manchester Square; and the Italian Church, in Hatton Wall—are three other Roman Catholic chapels that attract many strangers by their excellent music. The Catholic and Apostolic Church, in Gordon Square, may be regarded as the cathedral of the so-called Irvingites (a designation, however, which they repudiate); it is one of the best modern examples of early English, but there are no funds available for finishing the tower. The minister of the National Scotch Church, in Crown Court, Drury Lane, is the celebrated Rev. J. Cumming, D.D., whose preaching attracts large congregations. Of the dissenting chapels in London, by far the most remarkable is Mr. Spurgeon’s Tabernacle, built at a cost of about £30,000, at Newington, near the Elephant and Castle; everything, within and without, has been made subservient to the accommodating of 4000 or 5000 persons, all of whom can hear, and nearly all see, the celebrated preacher. The principal Jews’ Synagogue is in Great St. Helen’s, near Leadenhall Street—remarkable rather for the ceremonies, at certain seasons of the year, than for anything in the building itself. A synagogue exists for the Jews residing in the western half of the metropolis, in Great Portland Street.

Cemeteries.—Intramural burial is now forbidden in London. The chief cemeteries are those at Highgate, Finchley, Abney Park, Mile-End, Kensal Green, Bethnal Green, Ilford, Brompton, Norwood, Nunhead, and Camberwell. There is a very fine view of London, on a clear day, from the first-named. Kensal Green contains the graves of many distinguished persons. Princess Sophia was buried at the last-named cemetery; and a sedulous visitor would discover the tombs and graves of Sydney Smith, the daughters and a grandchild of Sir Walter Scott, Allan Cunningham, John Murray, Thomas Hood, Liston, Loudon, Callcott, Birkbeck, Brunel, Thackeray, and other persons of note. Cardinal Wiseman lies interred in the Catholic Cemetery adjacent to Kensal Green. The Great Northern Cemetery, near Colney Hatch, lately opened, has special railway facilities from the King’s Cross Station. The Woking Necropolis, in Surrey, is too far distant to be included within London; nevertheless, the admirable railway arrangements, from a station of the South-Western, in the Westminster Road, make it, in effect, one of the metropolitan cemeteries. If the old burial-grounds are no longer attended to for funerals, many of them are deeply interesting for their memorials of the past. Old St. Pancras Churchyard has already been named; and another worthy of attention is Bunhill Fields burying-ground. It has been called the ‘Campo Santo’ of Dissenters, for there lie the remains of Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan, John Owen, George Fox, (who founded the sect of the Quakers about 1646,) Dr. Isaac Watts, and many a stout defender of nonconformity.