The others were quite ready to follow, and they wound their way down, down, down, until they stood again on the main floor, under the dome.
“This is called St. Paul’s Church-yard,” said Mrs. Pitt, leading the way around back of the cathedral. “This used to be a very busy place. St. Paul’s School was here, within the yard, as well as many shops. The first printer who produced books for children had his shop in this corner. In the days when the interior of the building was put to such dreadful uses, the outside was treated quite as badly. Shops of all kinds were built up against the cathedral, and sometimes the noise which the carpenters made greatly disturbed those at the service within. It must have been shocking indeed! It is said that for a very small sum, the sexton would allow boys to climb up and ring the bells as much as they liked; and, on the day of Queen Mary’s coronation, she saw a Dutchman standing on the weather-vane, waving a flag.”
“My! I’d like to have seen that!” cried John, to whom such gymnastic feats appealed.
While they walked back to the Cheshire Cheese, Mrs. Pitt explained to them what St. Paul’s Cathedral once comprised.
“In the London of the Middle Ages, the Church ruled supreme,” she told them. “At least one-fourth of the entire city was owned by the churches and the religious houses. To carry on the monasteries and churches, a tremendous number of people were necessary. At St. Paul’s, in 1450, there were:
The bishop,
Four archdeacons,
The treasurer,
The precentor,
The chancellor,
Thirty greater canons,
Twelve lesser canons,
Fifty chaplains, and
Thirty vicars.
These were of the higher rank; there were innumerable others of lower rank, such as the master of the singing-school, the binder, and the translator. The brewer, in 1286, brewed 67,814 gallons, and the baker baked about 40,000 loaves. This gives one a little idea of what it meant to conduct a cathedral in those days of the all-powerful Church.”
Between the poor shops of Fleet Street, open many little passages, and these lead into tiny courts and winding alleys. The entrance to one of them is marked with the sign, “Wine Office Court.” Directly off from this narrow, dark alley stands the famous Cheshire Cheese, the only genuine old-time tavern or “coffee-house” which still exists unchanged. It is a little, low building, with quaint bow-window of square panes.
“Why, we can’t all get in there, can we?” laughed John, as Mrs. Pitt stepped inside. The door is very small, and the hallway was so crowded by curious visitors, and by jostling, pushing waiters, that it did not seem possible for another person to enter. They managed, however, to elbow their way through the crowd into the celebrated “coffee-room” itself.
That “coffee-room” is splendid! The ceiling is very low, and the walls are wainscoted in dark wood. Although the room is so small, there are numerous long tables, and old-fashioned, high-backed settles. One seat, in the corner farthest from the door, is marked with a little tablet, telling us that there was Dr. Johnson’s chosen place. Several pictures of that noted gentleman adorn the walls. It always seems very much out of keeping with the quaintness of the room, to find it full of laughing, chattering Americans. A few quiet English clerks come there for their noon meal, but the majority of the patrons of the Cheshire Cheese are the tourists.