The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-11-16 00:00:00

4 ionour
ilL)onding
Mayor 11141
of his -

THE CRYPT OF ST. PAUL'S.

Although It is not true of St. Paul's, any more than
of Lon ion, that its underground portions are quite as
wonderful as those above ground, yet even the Crypt
of St. Paula contains much that is interesting; and
our readers will be glad to know that it is already
beginning to share in that process of renovation to
which the rest of the cathedral is being gradually sub-
jected (remarks The Times). The Dean and Chapter,
Indeed, have resolved to lighten the whole extent of
it, and with the.: view they are steadily removing the
heavy woodwork which nearly blocks up the small win-
dows on a level with the ground outside, substituting for
it thin but strong iron sashes, which • alllow the
light to enter more freely. The venerable dust and
soot which have accumulated on the walls and window-
sills, possibly for nearly two eenturies, have also been
to a great extent removed; and some idea may be
formed of this when we say that about 50 tone of soot,
dirt, and debris of plaster have already been carted
away out of the basement of the sacred edifioe. The
walls, too, are being cleaned throughout, and the
restoration of the monuments is being proceeded with,
the greatest care being taken that nothing shall be
mutilated or destroyed.
Some of the fragments of monuments which survived
the great fire and the hands of the workmen em-
ployed under Sir Christopher Wren have been repaired,
re-arranged in something like order, and laid decently
on slabs against the walls. The pavement at present
is decidedly the worst portion of the Crypt; but this
will before long be taken up and relaid throughout on
• uniform plan and pattern.
. . . .

Among he graves'in the Crypt under the east end
aisles of the Cathedral are those of Sir Christopher
Wren himself; Barry, the painter; Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds, Benjamin West, Opie, Fuseli, Turner, Sir
Thomas Lawrence, Dean Milman, Canon Melvin,
Archdeacon Hale, Professor Cockerel!, Mylne, and
Rennie. Indeed, so many of our artiste and archi-
tects lie here that the southern aisle has come
to be called "Painters' Corner." tinder the central
dome, an our readers are aware, lie the bodies of Nel-
son and Wellington—the latter in a magnificent ear.
cophagus made out of a single block of black Cornish
porphery, which was finished only six or seven years
ago; while the former rests in, or rather under, &DO-
tfier sarcophagus, whioh though smaller in size, sur-
passes it. neighbour in interest as having been origi-
nally prepared by Cardinal Wolsey for himself, and
placed by him with that view in St. George's Chapel
at Windsor. Not far from Wellington lies Sir Thomas
Picton, whose body was removed hither a few years
since from Bayswater; and near to Lord Nelson rest
his brother admirals, Lords Nortbeek and Collingwood.
A printed sheet relating to the Crypt, which was
published in 1685, with the signature of the then clerk
of the works, Mr. John 'Million, shows that the
general depth of the foundations below the surface of
the churchyard is 221 t., and in many places even
35ft. ; that the "fair, large, and stately vaults'
beneath the church are 18f0. 6in, high from the ground
to the crown of the arch • teat each of the great niers
which sustain the central dome stands upon 1,360 ft. of
ground, superficial measure, and each levier one upon
380 ft. ; while the whole space of ground occupied by
these piers and covered by the dome itself is nearly
three-quarters of an acre.