The first stone of S. Paul’s Cathedral was laid by Sir Christopher Wren and his Master-mason on June 21, 1675; the last stone of the lantern above the Dome was laid in 1710, by Mr. Christopher Wren (who was born a year before the laying of the first stone), in the presence of Sir Christopher (his father), Mr. Strong (the Master-builder), and other Free and Accepted Masons.

The dimensions of the Cathedral, as given in the Rev. Lewis Gilbertson’s excellent Official Guide, are as follows:—

The exterior length, exclusive of the projection of the steps, 515 feet; the interior, 479 feet; the width across the Transepts, from door to door, 250 feet; width across Nave and Aisles, 102 feet; and between the stone piers, 41 feet; the Western front, 180 feet; the diameter of the octagonal area at the crossing of Nave and Transept, 107 feet; the diameter of the drum beneath the Dome, 112 feet; of the Dome itself, 102 feet. The height of the Central Aisle, 89 feet. The total height from the pavement of the Churchyard to the top of the Cross, 365 feet; the height of the Western Towers, 221 feet. The entire cost seems to have been about a million pounds.

The exquisite Dome has been justly called “the very crown of England’s architectural glory.” As Mr. Fergusson has said, “its dimensions, the beauty of its details, the happy outline of the campaniles, the proportion of these to the faÇade, and of all the parts one to another, make up the most pleasing design of its class that has yet been executed.” Strype says, “This Cathedral is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent modern buildings in Europe.”