St Paul's Cathedral Churchyard

The churchyard gardens are part of the precincts of St Paul's Cathedral and an important part of its setting as well as providing valuable open space for public use. The present cathedral is the fifth on the site, the first erected in 604 by St Ethelbert, King of Kent, the first Christian king in England. A Roman temple of Diana once stood on the site and there is evidence of Roman burials here. In the early Middle Ages a law school existed within the precincts but it was closed by Henry III in the C13th, who forbade law to be taught within the City in order to benefit the law schools he had founded in Oxford. The Precincts were enclosed by walls in 1285 to keep out robbers and marauders, and the site was defined by Creed Lane, Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, Old Change and Carter Lane, with 6 gates, the main one at Ludgate Hill. Various buildings were erected within the walls including Chapter House and cloister, St Gregory's parish church, the Bishops Palace, the Pardon Churchyard, a College of Minor Canons, St Faith's Chapel, St Paul's School and the Jesus Bell Tower, which summoned Londoners thrice yearly to Paul's Cross. The Cross was a wooden, lead-covered pulpit from which Papal Bulls, royal proclamations and announcements of victories were made, and famous preachers preached from here. It was also the site where Tyndale's translation of the Bible was publicly burned in 1527 and where Luther's works were burned. It was destroyed in 1643, an elm reputedly planted to mark its site, but it was later rebuilt in 1913 by Sir Reginald Blomfield. The executions of martyrs and the Gunpowder Plot conspirators took place nearby. The remains of Chapter House cloister is still visible in the gardens to the south side of the cathedral nave.

In 1663, after the restoration of the monarchy, Sir Christopher Wren was asked to renovate the old cathedral; his first plan was accepted 6 days before the Great Fire of London of 1666 after which it was decided to rebuild the cathedral. It was his third design that was accepted in 1675 and building took 35 years. Completion was marked by a statue by Francis Bird erected in 1712 depicting Queen Anne surrounded by women representing England, Ireland, France and North America; the current statue is a marble copy of the original, made in 1886.

By 1870 the cathedral precincts consisted of 5 sites, to the north-east the churchyard of St Augustine Old Change with St Faith and St Paul; to the south-east that of St Gregory by St Paul united with St Mary Magdalene; to the north-west and south-west the cathedral churchyards, surrounded by cast iron railings, now restored. These are thought to be an early example of cast iron, made at Lamberhurst, Sussex in 1714. To the west is the forecourt of the cathedral marked by 40 stone posts.

The churchyard was closed for burial and negotiations to create recreational open space began in 1874. In 1878 the Dean and Chapter agreed to open the north-east and south-east areas, and from this date onwards the site has been managed by the Corporation of London. In 1880 the north-west and south-west sites were opened. The map accompanying the agreement of 1878 shows the proposed new layout for the north-east and south-east sites with winding footpaths and graves still in place. In the north-east, the largest site, winding footpaths were combined with a central straight path. In 1879 Edward Milner, who was an important figure in the design of private gardens and public parks, including in London Crystal Palace Park (q.v.), proposed alterations to the north-east and south-east sites, that in the north-east having a main straight path from the north-east entrance and winding paths around the periphery with shrubs planted in the corners. Works were begun in 1879 and the gardens were opened by the Lord Mayor on 22 September the same year. Among the features were a fountain by D C Penrose, a wooden structure for the gardener (1881), which was later replaced in 1895 and then enlarged in 1908. In 1882 4 garden seats and 36 single seats were installed and in 1883 50 additional chairs were made available for the summer. In 1885 an honorarium was paid to D C Penrose for the design of a fountain and laying out the grounds. In 1893 electricity was installed and by 1912 lavish carpet bedding was planted, which included the Corporation's crest and the text 'Except the Lord keep the City the watchman watcheth in vain'. In 1910 a new Paul's Cross designed by architect Sir Reginald Blomfield with sculptor Bertram MacKennal was erected in the north-east site; nearly 16m in height the monument has a gilt figure of St Paul on top of a tall column on an ornamental plinth with a drinking fountain basin.

The garden was extended when the eastern side of the churchyard was closed in 1916 and later enlarged on the south-east side in 1966 as a legacy of war damage when St Paul's Choir School was built. The tower of St Augustine Watling Street was restored and incorporated into the Choir School; this was an C11th church rebuilt by Wren in 1680-87 and again in the C19th, but which was destroyed in 1941, although services continued until 1954. A statue of John Wesley was erected in the paved courtyard garden on the north side in 1988, a bronze replica of an original marble statue of 1825-49 sculpted by father and son, Samuel Manning, Elder and Younger. In 1999 a Memorial to the Londoners killed in World War II Bombardments by sculptor Richard Kindersley, a low memorial in a single block of Irish limestone inscribed with words by Sir Edward Marsh, was installed by the north portico of the Cathedral. It was unveiled by HM The Queen Mother on 11 May 1999. Another sculpture in the garden depicts Thomas a-Becket by sculptor Bainbridge Copnall, acquired by the Corporation of London in 1973.

Trees in the gardens include mature plane, gingko, maple, lime, ash, mulberry and eucalyptus, and the churchyard is important for nature conservation. In 2011 the eastern shrub border was re-planted to encourage biodiversity and plants with nectar-rich flowers for insects, berries providing year-round food for birds, and shrubs for nesting cover were chosen.