The Secret Rooms of St Paul's Cathedral

The Hogwarts staircase, a secret gallery, the rooftop statues, a vertiginous spy hole...Matt Brown and Geoff Marshall explore the off-limits areas 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..

[passthebutterrobot]

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

[lisastallingskeelor]

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

[cherylhopper]

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

[seantig]

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 :(

[richardjellis]

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

[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.

[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!

[ivormctin]

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.

[TMPreRaff]

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

[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.

[brendonmcmorrow]

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.

[madlenox]

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

[pope]

This NEEDS to become a two hour documentary.

[angelcorrea]

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

[jennyd]

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.

[Ladynipchick]

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

[kathryncarter]

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.

[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!