St Paul's, Covent Garden

Completed in 1633, St Paul's was the first entirely new church to be built in London since the Reformation.^[3] Its design and the layout of the square have been attributed to Inigo Jones since the 17th century, although firm documentary evidence is lacking.^[4] According to an often repeated story, recorded by Horace Walpole, Lord Bedford asked Jones to design a simple church "not much better than a barn", to which the architect replied "Then you shall have the handsomest barn in England".^[5]


Jones's design closely follows the description of an Etruscan-style temple by Ancient Roman architect Vitruvius,^[6] which reflects the early forms of Roman temple. These essentially continued Etruscan architecture, though quite what Vitruvius intended by his account has divided modern scholars.^[7] The building is described by Sir John Summerson as "a study in the strictly Vitruvian Tuscan Order" and "almost an archaeological exercise".^[8][3] It has been seen as a work of deliberate primitivism: the Tuscan order having been associated by Renaissance architect Palladio with agricultural buildings.^[3]


The temple front with a portico on the square has never in fact been the main entrance, although this may have been Jones's first intention. The altar lies behind this wall, and the entrance is at the far end to this. The stone facing of this facade is also later; originally it was apparently brick with stucco. The other sides of the building remain brick, with details in stone. The triangular pediments at both ends are in wood.

Theatrical connections[edit]

St Paul's connection with the theatre began as early as 1663 with the establishment of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and was further assured in 1723 with the opening of Covent Garden Theatre, now the Royal Opera House.


On 9 May 1662, Samuel Pepys noted in his diary the first "Italian puppet play" under the portico—the first recorded performance of "Punch and Judy", a fact commemorated by the annual MayFayre service in May.


The portico of St Paul's was the setting for the first scene of Shaw's Pygmalion, the play that was later adapted as My Fair Lady. Since 2007 St Paul's has been home to its own in-house professional theatre company, Iris Theatre, originally created to mount a production of T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral. It gained full charitable status in October 2009.^[13]