The Secret Rooms of St Paul's Cathedral

[@AlexWindsor]

Great video - I've been in some of those places. Working for a company called ELP that do all the lights for BBC televised events, we were running cables all through the place, up on the roof, everything. It was a fascinating experience and toe-curlingly frightening at times! He's absolutely right, the thoughts going through your head about putting your life in the hands of hundreds of years old architecture. I had similar experiences at Westminster Abbey as well. One interesting fact not mentioned in the video is that there is a tradition for workmen who find themselves on the roofs of such places to carve their name and date into the masonry - dating back hundreds of years to today - my colleagues were doing this alongside things like Ethelbert was here 1796 etc..

[@lisastallingskeelor3328]

Stunning architecture, engineering and design, what a treat to be able to see.

[@M4G4M4N]

Wait until you see the one in Barcelona Spain, I forgot the name but it's the most amazing cathedral in the world. Look it up and reply with your thoughts

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

Wow, i don't think I've ever got vertigo from just watching a KZbin video before! Great stuff though.

[@NaturistGardener]

i totally agree

[@Richard-pe4cx]

yes i felt it as well

[@deathofasalestactic]

when i was there in person and i got vertigo :S

[@qqleq]

Worse than when I really go up a tower - which is bad enough. Weird!

[@amazingusername8925]

you don't know what vertigo means do you?

[@seantig479]

Thank you for expanding on the tour of St. Paul's I enjoyed first hand, years ago. British engineering is breathtaking.

[@gaelhillyardcreative]

I wish this video was 100 times longer - totally fascinating. Miss London desperately :(

[@cherylhopper6076]

I'd love to see more of the behind-the-scenes rooms in another video.

[@tomsommer9739]

sprich deutsch

[@ChrisMelville]

Great to finally see the INSIDE of the golden gallery. You can see from below that there’s some kind of upper gallery there, but not accessible to the public. We can only walk from the whispering gallery, up to the exterior golden gallery. I always remember there being a door there, which I imagined would lead to the inside - and now I see it’s true.

[@angelcorrea5268]

It is one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have visited. A colorful artistic experience. I like that place.

[@kathryncarter6143]

I can't even begin to fathom the grandeur of this building. Such an incomprehensible scale; to say nothing of the beauty. And to think that this was all accomplished centuries ago without any modern machinery. Just that incredibly heavy door, at such a significant height! And even the realitively unimportant crawl spaces, have each brick layed with care. I think the tour guide is right about the discovery. You could spend a whole lifetime wandering about & exploring; but you still wouldn't be able to discover everything. How any one man could accomplish such a feat, just boggles my mind.

[@pope400]

This NEEDS to become a two hour documentary.

[@LaWendeltreppe]

Thx for sharing! Amazing! I miss London so much and am counting the days till I will be there again. Your videos are a real consolation for those who can't be there. And that bloke Oliver has got such a warm smile.

[@CanyonWanderer]

Amazing that at that hand rail part, there is a lot to look down on, but still quite al lot to look up to as well! So many levels!

[@ProfessorPesca]

I was scared totally rigid just going up the lantern at Ely Cathedral and I would have simply never been able to do this - just watching the video made my heart rate increase! It’s good to be able to see from a safe location though!

[@TMob56]

I 100% agree... I'm not a fan of heights...

[@ivormctin6367]

I visited St. Paul's in, I think 2007. It was early on a weekday in October so it was very quiet. I don't know if there is still this option, but I paid £2 extra (student price) for a group guided tour. There were, however, so few visitors at that time, that I got the guided tour all to myself. I was shown a lot of areas that were off limits to the regular visitor. We went up to that area above the ceiling that you see in this video, out onto the roof and to the stone staircase in the thumbnail. It was about 90 minutes in total, I think.

[@richardjellis9186]

"the hand rail was put in,.." Which means that at some point, there was NO rail.!🤯!.

[@WELLINGTON20]

It’s always been there. Of course at some point there was no st. paul’s cathedral.

[@ixlnxs]

Or at the very least, the public wasn't allowed up there until the hand rail was put in. You don't want church service to be disturbed by people falling from the sky, do you?

[@m.on4ca97]

That would make the service more interesting wouldn't you say?

[@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi]

Id be tempted to throw bread down from there when they sing that song 🎶 Bread of heaven 🎶 hahahah 🍞

[@Ladynipchick2]

Ooo, I'd have loved more. That bloke who took them round had such enjoyment in the building!

[@brendonmcmorrow3886]

I've been lucky enough to see most of these secret places on what the Virgers call a Heineken tour (because it reaches parts other tours cannot reach). You have to know someone in the Cathedral to get on one of these tours but they are without doubt one of THE best things anyone can do in London. They hardly ever happen as the Virger who used to conduct most of them has moved to another cathedral.

[@jennyd255]

At some points during the 1970's there was temporary public access to some of these places. I do recall that it was rather scary, but also fascinating.

[@sailorjohnboy2325]

It's been nearly 40 years since I visited St. Paul's. Still get queasy watching your video.

[@rjr1227]

Holy smokies....wow. I love going places like this.truly a work of art....beautiful

[@mamtfasc69]

you guys are amazing. The job you keep carry out makes me prouder, day be day, to work and live in this beautiful city

[@mrwibble70]

Some of these corridors in the interior of at Paul's cathedral are very narrow. I used to use some of them to get to various parts of the organ to tune. The West end gallery is impressive, when tuning the some and West end reeds, you have to have ear defenders to tune them.

[@leighs5048]

Wonderful tour. Really enjoyed this.

[@Engineer9736]

Great video. I really like such enormous buildings. With all the different kinds of rooms and spaces.

[@davidmcclelland2661]

Great tour for us on the other side of the world! Cheers.

[@TMPreRaff]

"The Secret Rooms of St Paul's Cathedral" Now on KZbin. So much for secrets.

[@gormauslander]

Was about to say this

[@gilesgbradley]

Vertigo inducing, truly scary.It took me three attempts to reach the top of St. Paul's, never felt so scared in my life.

[@windyhillfoundry5940]

Thanks for the tour, I went through what I call the attick, the area between the inner dome and the outer dome back in the late 90's. From in there we were able to see the old hewd timbers that held things together.

[@graffitijunkiejfk]

Done that tour with Oliver. His knowledge was unbelievable...

[@madlenox]

Really interesting ! Fascinsting even. And i didnt know that the harry potter's staricase was in st pauls !

[@Matty6968]

***** Yes its to the divination room harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Divination_Stairwell

[@darksymmetry5745]

And also used for the defence against the dark arts staircase aswell

[@andywimmer1]

I climbed in 1971, as a tourist, all the way into the "ball" just below the cross of St. Paul...amazing experience....

[@StarWarsJay]

I remember standing in the whispering gallery with my back against the railings and locking up at the inside of the dome. The feeling of vertigo was overwhelming.

[@oneintenman2739]

Amazing. Thank you as always.

[@RadioJonophone]

That last part was really scary. You are so brave, I would not be able to do that.

[@CeciliaDyckhoff]

I went up into the golden ball when I was a child, back in the 50s.

[@MarionRelics]

Did the interior of the upper dome have a brick pattern painted on it instead of actual bricks...?

[@krist-yonnarain7786]

Isaac Marion yeah it was a very popular design during the baroque period instead of actually making the the whole dome hollow and visible from the floor a fantastic mural usually portraying heaven was painted on the ceiling

[@mscott3918]

There is a brick cone between the dome you see from looking up and the dome you see from outside. What I mean is that what you see when looking up isn't actually the top of the dome. You can see the iron chains set in lead that hold it all together. Be warned though, if you ever decide to go to the viewing gallery above the top of the dome it's a tough climb.

[@ObviousSchism]

Yes and I believe that the technique is known as Trompe-l'œil

[@rixx46]

@@mscott3918 y wife and I made the climb years ago - well worth it.

[@RobWVideo]

If you take the full tour, you can climb up between the internal and the external domes to the very top, where there is a small glass window set into the floor that you can look down through to see centre of the cathedral below. You can see the other side of that window in the top of the internal dome at 3:25.

[@star_man]

Absolutely beautiful and awe inspiring. However I'm getting vertigo just watching the video!

[@Resenbrink]

Dear God I would love to explore these parts of this simply beautiful building .

[@erickeith1466]

The most amazing part of the cathedral is what's below the "ground floor". Three basement levels that go way down that, if you could visit, would make you question many things, such as what is the "ground floor". But, only certain groups get that tour.

[@davekirwin]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting but it makes my feet feel funny looking at the height!

[@flugsven]

David Kirwin Yeh, that's almost killed me on a school trip tour. I only wanted to climb down, but had to follow the neverending stream of tourists. I nearly sh*.. well, nevermind.

[@davedrew9328]

How was the hand rail constructed i can’t imagine it was pulled up ?

[@davidthomson8866]

Many years ago our family visited St Paul’s Cathedral,while there a kindly gentleman took us down to the very bowels of the building,and there we actually viewed the funeral Carriage that carried the Duke of Wellington body in his funeral cortège.It was covered with beaten shell casings,it took 12 horses to pull it.Amazing ,!,

[@NickieOHara]

Fantastic video from @Londonist showing the secret rooms of St Paul's Cathedral.

[@Aquarius.]

so many mesmerised by beautiful architecture on the one hand whilst clinging onto their pennies from universal credit with the other

[@resnonverba137]

Very interesting, thanks for upload.

[@marlineharrold1937]

Wonderful video! Thanks a bunch. 🖤

[@michael_mouse]

1:30 ... only 9" thick... now that's a REAL terrifying thought!

[@chappers69100]

Wow, that view from the top looks so scary!!!

[@gordywestmids]

Even more 'scary' when you consider the builders were up there on wooden scaffolds

[@maxpayne2574]

I worked in a Collage building from the 1800s that had been changed and remodeled many times. Under one of the floors was a swimming pool from the 1920s. There are also stairways that lead to floors.

[@theknowledgewithin6514]

yes that would be Walthamstow collage and i used to swin there as a teenager

[@theknowledgewithin6514]

these places were never built in the 1800s they were found. They were on horse and cart back then so no way they could have build such impossible structures with no power tools. Also these buildings were used for gathering energy from the ether. look closely at the tops which contained rare metals and also wires spikes to gather the energy. our history is a lie.

[@viinerimees1524]

Thanks! Going to visit paul tomorrow

[@cmotherofpirl]

Amazing, but absolutely terrifying :)

[@magnvss]

Vertigo escalates with every minute. But because you know it's a very old building. And could easily give in or give up at any moment, regardless of whatever you were assured.

[@sutats]

That's where the naughty altar boys go.

[@Wildlifesupernannyfan]

THIS IS SO INSPIRING. AMASING DISCOVERIES!!

[@richard281150]

As a child back in the late 50's early 60's I can remember visiting St. Paul's and going right up to the top where you had to traverse through the space between the inner and outer dome which had huge heavy beams inside; you had to be very careful not to bang your head. The pièce de résistance though was being able to climb a ladder inside the cross at the top of St. Paul's where there was a viewing window to see out over London. I can find no mention of that ladder letting you get inside the cross anywhere so maybe someone else has a memory of this?

[@paulnewman851]

Yes Richard. I too climbed that ladder when I was around 12 (circa 1956). I remember having to wait one's turn, as there was so little room there. When at the top of the ladder my head was in the space under the ball (supporting the cross) I believe, with the breeze blowing straight through. Amazing!

[@lindahartley421]

@@paulnewman851 so dis i

[@twstf8905]

Awesome 👍

[@lindawalker4575]

Such a feat of engineering.

[@mscott3918]

Linda Walker I love the story that when old St Paul's had burned down, and the site was being cleared, Wren asked a workman to find him a stone to mark the place for one of the boundary walls. He was brought a large tombstone with the word resurgam, Latin for I will rise again, carved in it.

[@lethe56]

I thought I'd seen all Londonist vids, especially the secret London ones! How did I miss this? Great job as usual, by the way, people-from-three-years-ago-who-made-this-video! Love Londonist.

[@brad349miller]

Stairwell looks like the... YES! My eye proved right; that stairwell is the one to the Hogwarts divination tower! Wild! I love that we get to see such things from our corner of the world. "Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's The little old bird woman comes"

[@970357ers]

After this pandemic is over, it would be good to see such hidden areas opened up to tourists (with necessary security measures).

[@AlbertCanil]

Thank you ever so much for sharing, "you few, you lucky few" .

[@FarlandHowe]

Very cool. That was fun. Thank you for sharing. Rob

[@christmasdecorationsshopda8545]

Amazing place thanks for sharing.

[@graham870]

Nice video well done

[@kilikus822]

I'm not super afraid of heights but, funny enough, a real trip to St. Pauls in 2005 showed me that balconies inside a dome really mess with my balance.

[@stwee4655]

They didn't show Shinbone Alley where the three domes inside each other are atttached. Named by the Blitz firewatchers in the little room at the top of the dome. My great uncle was a firewatcher and showed me around.

[@Chesterbarnes1]

Awesome!! Where where the ORGAN PIPES located?

[@passacaglia28]

I would love to know as well.

[@rowlandwateridge906]

Please see my reply below to Jasmine Johnston. The Dome section is a complete division of the organ located in the North-East Quarter Dome Gallery (there are four) which is large enough to additionally accommodate 32’ pedal pipes laid vertically and St Paul’s celebrated family of tubas. For US readers, the sensational and immensely powerful “trompette militaire” stop is American, specially imported, and the gift of Henry Willis III. G Donald Harrison who made its cousin, the ‘State Trumpet’ at the Cathedral of St John the Divine NYC, worked for Willis before moving to the US, and he had also worked on the St Paul’s organ. The Dome organ is hardly visible from the floor of the Cathedral, but can be seen by brave people looking down from higher levels above.

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

Brilliant video but I wish I hadn't watched it, as I'll probably have nightmares tonight!

[@timothyj1966]

Spectacular place of worship... fortunate enough to visit and attend services on vacation from Canada. The last bit in the Dome overlooking below is staggering... and made me feel queasy - have done the Whispering Gallery - that was enough for me.

[@alexanderpodgorski5449]

I wish I could visit these places myself, I love stuff like that

[@TomorrowWeLive]

Wonder how many secret rooms there are in St Peter's Basilica

[@alexandervanwyk7669]

That is some Holy Engineering, scary and breathtaking.

[@greenie2600]

What's with the Super Mario bricks on the walls inside the dome (at the end of the video)? They look painted on.

[@RogersRamblings]

In the 1960s it was possible to ascend the various galleries until one was standing on a ladder directly below the ball on top of the dome. Being of child age at the time the bus and underground day rover ticket was 10/- allowing travel on all red buses and the underground except north of Rickmansworth.

[@joshschneider9766]

Where can I see this in its entirety?

[@ellenkingsley]

omg this is an amazing video I've only gone as high as the Whispering Gallery in St Paul's

[@butchknapman3939]

Good video, I have seen the stair case and been into the stone mason yard, amazing how it stayed strong through the bombing of London

[@tashuntka]

WOW.....WOW! 👍💛💛👍

[@raphlvlogs271]

when was St Paul's Cathedral built?

[@rixx46]

I didn’t have any issue with heigh5s when I was younger, but my guts churned and my knees went to jelly watching this 🙀

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Something I loved as a youngster was getting up higher as I had always been on the ground . So imagine people of the 1600s and 1700s would have the same affection of being high . Not everyone got a chance to be high level over something

[@batchint]

you have to see the trumpets in the whispering gallery... my photos never did it justice imagine they are played at weddings...

[@vickirasmussen4791]

2021 cant see for miles any more

[@danc8278]

Could really feel my fear of heights kick in

[@blackhole7909]

That bit and the stairs is from Paddington 2

[@paulkirkland3263]

Fascinating, but it really triggered my vertigo. Perhaps that means it was well filmed!

[@CuriousPavel]

that is fascinating. I just did a video for my channel about the cathedral but I did not have the pleasure to go "behind the scenes"

[@J3rs3y_G1rl]

Kudos for the Mary Poppins reference.

[@RubyMc-v4i]

Amazing

[@rr7firefly]

Suspended in space, between the church crossing far below and the interior of the upper dome overhead. Unnerving -- not for the timid.

[@TheConsettonian1987]

I’ve been up the dome a few times many years ago and I was terrified when I was up there.

[@7ajhubbell]

Thank you.

[@sunithapottur8724]

chithi thali Prardhini Born talented Girl ra , God bless you, so cute love you maa

[@JustSomeBloke1]

Hi Geoff. Is that your shoe on display at 15" or just a random piece of footwear added for artistic reasons? :)

[@Londonistvids]

That is Geoff's shoe, yes!

[@hausaffe100]

a video by geoff without any mentioning of railways, didn't know that's possible

[@dlevi67]

Well, they did talk about handrails...

[@mauricevandraanen4286]

That guy shows exactly all the special spots were i´ve been too with school back in 1978 Even have been at the top of the Cathedral and yust knowing how amazing that felt at age of yust 17

[@EASYTIGER10]

Why are the outer walls so much higher than the roof over the aisles? Just to look impressive from the outside?

[@timselman1123]

I think its something to do with having no visible buttresses, and using the wall to hide the fact that the cathedral actually does, but Wren wanted to look like it didn't have them.

[@Foz-g9p]

London skyline has changed so much!

[@jakecollins3669]

0:44 Great Tom

[@QUIAPOPOWERPOINTMASS]

Thanks, now i can hide secret entrance at my minecraft church