St Paul’s Cathedral Tour
Cathedral tour guides lead visitors around the cathedral floor and crypt four times daily. The tours are available in English only, and last approximately 90 minutes. Tours are available Monday - Saturday at 10am, 11am, 1pm and 2pm. Please register for a tour on arrival as spaces are limited.
St Paul’s Cathedral History
The current St. Paul’s Cathedral is actually the fourth to be built on the site - there has been a cathedral bearing St. Paul’s name in this location for more than 1,400 years. The current building was completed in the early 18th century, and quickly became a setting of significant national importance.
The cathedral has hosted numerous historic events, including the state funerals of Lord Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill and the Duke of Wellington, and the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
The building’s rich history, central location and impressive architecture make it a must-see landmark for many visitors to London. There are plenty of wonderful viewpoints in London, but many would argue that the view from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral beats them all!
The Dome & Whispering Gallery
Those with sufficient energy can climb the dome: 257 steps leading up to The Whispering Gallery, famously so named because a whisper against its walls is audible on the opposite side. Climb a further 271 steps to The Golden Gallery and, at 280ft, you will have incredible panoramic views of London.
Crypt & ‘Oculus’ film experience
Journey underground to the cathedral’s crypt to view the tombs and memorials of world-famous Britons, including Nelson and the Duke of Wellington. There you will also find the award winning ‘Oculus; an eye into St Paul’s’ exhibition located in the crypt. The first project of its kind in a cathedral, Oculus is a 270˚ film experience that brings 1400 years of history to life. Oculus takes visitors to Saxon London amidst the construction of the first St Paul’s in 604AD, through the buildings on the site that have fallen to fire and disrepair, before showing them the Great Fire of 1666 and the devastation of London during the Blitz when St Paul’s became a lasting symbol of strength, survival and hope.
Exhibition: The Great Restoration of the 1920s
On Christmas Eve 1924 St Paul’s Cathedral was served with a Dangerous Structures notice and was later closed for public safety. Using archive material and objects from the cathedral collections, the exhibition recount the extraordinary and little-known story of how the Cathedral moved and cracked, causing masonry to fall and smash in the nave, testing the limits of the structure and relations with the City of London building authorities.
The display takes you from the problems inherent to the original design, through the emergence of the structural issues, the heated discussion and conflicting advice that arose, the investigations carried out to understand the problems, the challenge of fundraising to save the dome, and the ingenious engineering endeavours that rendered the building safe once more.