ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 98, 28 April 1930, Page 3

ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL

WORK OF RESTORATION. .REOPENING SERVICE PLANNED.. LONDON, March 21. A great service of thanksgiving is to be held in St. Paul’s Cathedral on June 25, when the King will att'end, and with His Majesty there will be every member of the Royal Family who is in London at the time. This service will be a hymn of praise for the gigantic work of restoration which, after 17 years, has now made London’s cathedral safe for countless years to come. All official visitors will attend the service in robes and uniforms, and the ceremony will be one of the most brilliant ever seen in St. Pool’s. The Archbiship of Canterbury will preach. Beauties of which Londoners have been unaware will be fully revealed for the first time by the flood-lighting on the mosaics under the dome. Their delicate and exquisite colourings will amaze those who have thought St. Paul 's somewhat austere, and the hidden lighting at the east end of the chancel will give the cathedral a suggestion of sunshine. From the rebuilt organ, now electrified, will come a sweeter and richer tone than ever heard before The public has subscribed more than £450,000 to the cost of the restorations, including £6OOO from boxes placed in the cathedral, and no debt faces the authorities, for English men and women all over the world have been glad to help in the great work of repair. The engineers and architects who have been working to save Wren’s masterpiece for the nation express confidence that after being, to quote Canon Alexander’s words, “In danger of becoming dangerous,” St. Paul’s is now so sound that it is unlikely to cause anxiety for centuries.