Kevin Nosferatu

St Paul’s Churchyard is one of those places in the centre of London where you can escape from the chaos of the busy streets nearby. A place to relax, contemplate life, or just sit and drink a cup of tea from one of the many nearby cafés.

St Paul’s Cathedral

A picture taken at an angle in St Paul's Churchyard showing the dome of the cathedral and also St Paul's Cross and some trees in the grounds. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Cathedral Dome and St Paul’s Cross

A photo of a statue of Thomas à Becket which depicts a figure lying down with arms raised as if trying to fend off the sword blows that killed him. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Statue of St Thomas à Becket by E Bainbridge Copnall

A photo of a small white building standing in the churchyard. It has wooden doors that are shut. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

Mausoleum building in the churchyard

The churchyard wasn’t always such a relaxing place though. It was once a place of much hustle and bustle, with markets selling cloth and other goods, booksellers selling books and shops selling music and musical instruments. Large crowds also gathered there on one occasion to watch the execution of one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, Father Henry Garnet. He suffered the rather unpleasant fate of being hung drawn and quartered.

From the mid-15^th Century to around 1635 St Paul’s Cross stood in the churchyard. This was an open air pulpit and cross from which many sermons were preached and where large crowds gathered to hear them. During the Reformation it became an important place for the government to put forth the religious views that they espoused.