The cross stands on the north side of St Paul's
Cathedral in a shaded area. The cross, that is Grade II listed was erected in
1910. The cross is held by St Paul at the top of the column.
The plaque, at the base of the structure (see photos), with "u" substituted for
"v", reads:
On this plot of ground
stood of old 'Pauls Cross' whereat amid such
scenes of good and evil as make up human affairs
the conscience of church and nation through
five centuries found public utterance.
The first record of it is in 1191 AD. It was rebuilt
by Bishop Kemp in 1449 and was finally removed
by order of the Long Parliament in 1643.
This cross was re-erected in its present form
under the will of H C Richards
to recall and to renew
the ancient memories
The cross is Grade II listed and its entry, at
English Heritage (visit
link), reads:
"1910, by Sir R Blomfield and Sir B
Mackennal. Doric column of Portland stone supporting bronze figure of St Paul.
Elaborate base with 4 consoles and crouching figures of children. Enclosing
stone wall with gate."
The Britannia website (visit
link) tells us:
"St. Paul's Preaching Cross, in St. Paul's
Cathedral Churchyard, was the setting, and perhaps to some extent the
inspiration, of some of the most pregnant scenes in the story of London, and
almost of England. Certainly, if it were possible to secure a complete
collection of the sermons delivered at Paul's Cross, we Old Paul's Crossshould
have a history, almost complete, of the Anglican Church. Even before it became
the pulpit of the cathedral - we may almost say the pulpit of England - it was
the traditional spot for the announcement of general proclamations, civil as
well as religious in nature. It was, too, the spot at which Londoners, in the
management of their own affairs or in times of national crisis, assembled as if
drawn thither by a natural magnet.
Hear we first hear of the summoning of the citizens assembly known as the
folkmoot, by John Mansell, a king's justice, in 1236. To Paul's Cross, on Paul's
Day, the people were called to receive announcement of King Henry III's pleasure
that the citizens of London be ruled with virtue, that the liberties of the city
be maintained, and that any person who vexed the citizens should be grievously
punished for the example of others.
At another folkmoot, in 1259, in the presence of the King and the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the citizens came to Paul's Cross to swear true allegiance to the
King and his heirs, an oath which - perhaps because it was taken with the royal
guard holding the gates of the city - did not prevent the same citizens from
answering the summons of the great bell of St. Paul's Jesus Bell Tower to stand
fast with Simon de Montfort for the liberties of Englishmen.
"Powles Crosse" witnessed a stranger scene in about 1422 when one Richard
Walker, a chaplain of Worcester, there appeared to plead guilty to charges of
sorcery. He was harangued by the Bishop of Llandaff and made a statement
forswearing all magical practices. Thereupon two books of images, the possession
of which had been one of the chief grounds for the accusations brought against
him, were slung upon him wide open and he was marched along Cheapside under
their burden. Returning to the Cross, the chaplain was relieved both of the
offending books, which were burned before his eyes, and of any further
punishment.
The episode of the dramatic appearance in the pulpit of Paul's Cross of Reginald
Pecock, Bishop of St. Asaph, belongs to ecclesiastical history rather than to
the record of St. Paul's. He provoked, by his attack on Wycliffe's Lollard
doctrines and his equally uncompromising vindication of the rights, privileges
and duties of bishops, one of the most heated religious controversies of a
period not unused to doctrinal strife. Yet ten years later, in 1447, from
motives which are difficult to discern from the evidence available, Pecock, now
Bishop of Chichester, appears again at Paul's Cross before twenty thousand
hostile people, to kneel in his bishop's robes at the feet of the Primate of
Canterbury and other bishops and make full confession of his grievous errors.
Into the fire which burned alongside, a grim reminder of his own possible fate,
the abject bishop cast, with his own hands, the writings which had provoked the
displeasure of the orthodox.
New glory came to Paul's Cross with the munificent bishopric of Thomas Kemp in
the late 15th century. He rebuilt it with such imposing grandeur and with such
grace of form that he made of it one of the outstanding decorative features of
the whole city of London. It was an open-air pulpit, largely of timber, mounted
upon steps of stone with a roof covered in lead and a low wall was built around.
There was room in it for three or four persons. Unfortunately, there followed
Puritan fanaticism, abhorrent of this popish emblem, and Paul's Cross was
eventually destroyed.
Latimer preaches to King Edward VI at Paul's CrossMeanwhile we must picture it
as the stage, as it were, of much that was vital in the affairs of the nation.
It is particularly to be observed that national and political scenes took place
there as well as affairs ecclesiastical and semi-ecclesiastical. We see the
promulgation of papal bulls, the pronouncement of dire excommunications, public
confessions and recantations of heresy. We see, too, subsequently, the public
exposure of impostors and frauds, intermixed with royal edicts, public
proclamations, national addresses, proclamation of kings and denunciation of
traitors, with announcements of victories by sea and land, and tidings of royal
marriages and deaths. It has been said that "All the Reformation was
accomplished from the Cross".
At the very first sermon preached at Paul's Cross after the death of the
protestant Edward VI and the eventual accession to the throne of his catholic
sister, Queen Mary, there was a riot provoked by the words of Bishop Bourne. A
dagger was thrown at the preacher and stuck quivering in one of the side posts.
"There was shouting at the sermon as it were like mad people, and if the Lord
Mayor and Lord Courtenay had not been there, there would have been great
mischief." As it was, the preacher had to be rescued by force and hurried away
to sanctuary in St. Paul's School.
Modern Day St. Paul's Cross erected in 1910Queen Elizabeth I would risk no
repetition of such a scene and kept the pulpit empty for months whilst the
nation waited expectant to learn what form the national religion of England was
now to take. So that when at length the silence was broken by the appearance of
Dr. Samson to preach from Paul's Cross, the pulpit was found to be locked and
the keys mislaid. My Lord Mayor gave orders for a smith to force open the door,
which was done, to reveal that the place was almost too filthy and unclean to be
used.
Paul's Cross was, as we have said, swept away by the wave of Puritanism which
robbed English architecture and history of so many treasures. From the time of
its destruction in 1643, the site was unmarked and only recorded in tradition.
It was not until 1910 that a new cross was built, the means being provided by
the will of Mr. H.C. Richards, KC, MP."