St. Pauls Outing

On a bright autumn morning on the 8th October 2026, 23 Old Loughtonians and guests gathered at St Paul’s for the 11:00am conducted guide of the Cathedral by Gillian a Blue Badge London guide.

St Paul’s is a vibrant church, a national treasure and a London icon. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late 17th century, this site has been home to a Cathedral Church of the Diocese of London for over 1,400 years.

After collecting our head sets, and telling a couple they were on the wrong tour, we set off!

Our first stop was through a locked door and down some steps to a narrow tower which looked up to nearly the top of the Cathedral, originally without a cantilevered staircase which was installed at a later date. This was known as The Dean’s Staircase, but after being used in a Happy Potter film it is now known as The Harry Potter Stairs.

We then adjourned to the West Door, which is the main entrance to St Paul’s but is kept locked except for visits by Royalty and special dignities. The door are a pair and weigh a ton each, being easily opened with two large metal bolts. The door are made of solid oak and are the original doors!

Moving on to the North Aisle we sat and looked at the huge marble tomb to the Duke of Wellington, who is not buried here but in the Crypt in the lower ground floor.

Then came The Dome in the centre of the Cathedral looking up daylight at the top. This lead to the Quire (Choir) where again we sat down and listened to Gillian’s excellent description of this historical era.

From the Quire 39 steps lead down to The Crypt, where amongst other things are all the tombs of as already mentioned, Wellington, Nelson as well as a plaque to Sir Winston Churchill, who is buried at Bladon in Oxfordshire at the family estate. Other tombs belonged to the Field Marshall’s of the First and Second world wars, as well of Admirals Jellicoe & Beatty. As well as many more.

This bought us to the end of our tour and we thanked Gillian for a most interesting and informative tour.

The crypt offers hot & cold drinks as well as food but it is not bookable in advance, so we enjoyed our snack lunch on separate table. After lunch some decided to climb the 539 steps to the top, while most found there way to the exit and caught the train home.

All in all a most enjoyable outing!

Malcolm Trowbridge
(photos Stefan Sheriden)