There is much to explore at St. Paul’s Cathedral, the impressive Baroque church designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1673. Along with the impressive interiors and the impressive dome with its three galleries, the crypt houses the tombs of some of the country’s greatest heroes. , including Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington.
The tombs in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral
The crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral is the largest in Europe. You wonder where the Sir Christopher Wren memorial is. The great architect is buried in the south corridor to the east of the crypt. The simple tomb is surrounded by tributes to his family and an epitaph reads: “Reader, if you are looking for his monument, look around you.” Wren is buried in an area that pays tribute to the graves and monuments of the painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, the sculptor, Henry Moore, and the scientist Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin.
There are memorials on the floor of the cathedral and in the crypt. The largest monument on the cathedral floor belongs to the Duke of Wellington (it actually took longer to build than the entire cathedral), but you will also find Lord Nelson facing Charles Marquis Cornwallis. While poets are buried in Westminster Abbey, the artists’ corner of St. Paul’s Cathedral greets painters like Turner, Millais, and Lord Leighton.
Other big names you’ll find in the crypt include Gilbert and Sullivan’s Arthur Sullivan (near the OBE Chapel), Sir Henry Wellcome, Florence Nightingale, William Blake, Lawrence of Arabia, and George Washington, as well as huge tombs and chambers for Wellington and Nelson.
Nelson’s Tomb occupies the best place, as he was the first person of national importance to be buried in San Pablo, so it is just below the dome. However, her coffin was originally made for Cardinal Wolseley, but was stored for a few hundred years when Wolseley fell out of favor with Henry VIII when he was unable to arrange a papal annulment to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
The Churchill doors / screen divide the refectory and crypt, so they can be viewed for free when visiting the cafe, shop, or public baths. For those who choose not to go up into the galleries, Oculus is a clever 270-degree movie display where you can feel like you’re taking a tour of the cathedral.
