The building of St Paul’s Church began in 681. Remarkably, parts of this 7th century church have survived for over 1,300 years and form part of the present church, still a living place of worship.
The chancel of today’s church is partly Anglo-Saxon in date, when it was a free-standing church. It was the smaller of two monastic churches that stood in line. The remains of the larger of the two now lie under the nave.
The three small chancel windows are original, and once contained fine Anglo-Saxon coloured glass. Fragments of glass recovered during the excavations have been reinstated to one of them.
The churches were joined by a tower built in stages between the 9th and the 12th centuries. The larger church was demolished and replaced in the 18th century, and was then rebuilt by George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s.
Disclaimer
The text and pictures on this page are derived from the 'Heritage Unlocked' series of guidebooks published in 2004. We intend to review, update and enhance the content in the near future as part of the Portico project, whose objective is to provide information on the history, significance, research background and sources for all English Heritage properties.
