St. Paul’s is the oldest Anglican Church in London. It was started as a wooden building in 1835, and over its 179 year history has evolved and become on of London, Ontario’s most beautiful landmarks.

         Prior to the foundation of St. Paul’s the Anglican people of London practiced in a building near the old courthouse on Ridout Street. However, in 1832 an Anglican minister, Reverend Benjamin Cronyn was traveling through the region to get to Detroit. He stopped in London and decided to become minister here. He was the one who spearheaded the building of the cathedral that was completed in 1835.

        Unfortunately, because the building was made of wood it was susceptible to fires, and in 1844 the church burned down. Mr. Thomas, a Torontonian architect, rebuilt the church and it reopened on Ash Wednesday 1846.

       The next year the Diocese of Huron was founded with Cronyn begin appointed bishop. Despite this the Bishop still served at St. Paul’s until 1866 when Reverend Isaac Hellmuth took over. Hellmuth was an ambitious man and decided that St. Paul’s should be raised to cathedral status. Additions needed to be added to raise the building to this standard. Local architect John M. Moore designed the renovations and many prestigious London families like the Labatt’s, Carling’s, and Beattie’s added financially.  The cost of the renovations and additions was over $60,000. By April 3, 1894 the renovations were complete and St. Paul’s obtained cathedral status.

       One of the great features of St. Paul’s Cathedral has been its bells. Originally there were six bells brought over from England in 1851. They were replaced half a century later with ten new bells that combined weighted 10, 972 pounds. These bells were rung for the first time on December 25, 1901. These bells were recast and made into 11 bells in 1935. In 1901 when the second set of bells was installed, a clock was also added to the church. It is over five feet in diameter.

        Since 1935 the cathedral has done a series of renovations and beautification projects. More stained glass windows and other art by local artists have been added to the church throughout the years, as well as renovations to the building itself. Its last major renovation occurred in 2001 when the west tower was restored. It cost over 1 million.

      St. Paul’s Cathedral is a great part of the London landscape. On April 16, 2006 St. Paul’s was officially designated by the City of London as a heritage site.