Discover the Crypt

Nelson's Tomb

Admiral Nelson lies at the centre of the Crypt, directly beneath the middle of the Dome. His monument includes a call to national prayer that he wrote while in view of the enemy before the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Trafalgar was unfortunately to be Nelson's last battle, although he was eerily well prepared for this eventuality, having had his coffin already made for him from the mast of the French ship L'Orient sunk in the Battle of the Nile; one of his earlier victories.

His body had to be preserved for the journey home, so it was put into a large wooden barrel, covered with French brandy and topped up with spirits of wine and camphor at Gibraltar. When Victory arrived back at Portsmouth, the body was wrapped in bandages and transferred to a lead lined casket which was filled with brandy, camphor and myrrh.

When the ship finally arrived at the Nore, near Chatham, Nelson's L'Orient coffin was brought out in the commissioner's yacht and his body placed in it before this in turn was encased in a second lead lined casket. Once ashore, both coffins were placed within an ornate mahogany outer casket finished in black velvet and gold gilt.

Nelson's funeral took place at St Paul's on January 9th, 1806 where he was interred beneath the black sarcophagus originally made for Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century. 

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Wellington's Tomb

Wellington rests on a simple casket made of Cornish granite. Although he was a national hero, he was not a man of glory in his victories. 'Nothing except a battle lost can be held so melancholy as a battle won,' he wrote in a despatch of 1815, the year in which he defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

The Duke was known as The Iron Duke and as a result of his tireless campaigning, has left a colourful list of namesakes - Wellington boots, the dish Beef Wellington and even a brand of cigars. He also coined some memorable phrases. He gave the expression ' . . . and another thing' to the English language and declared 'The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.'

The banners hanging around Wellington's tomb were made for his funeral procession. Originally, there was one for Prussia, which was removed during World War I and never reinstated.

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Sir Christopher Wren's Tomb

Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St Paul's is buried in the south aisle at the east end of the Crypt. Beside Wren's tomb is a stone bearing his architect's mark. He is surrounded by the tombs and memorials of his family. 

In the same section of the Crypt are many tombs and memorials of artists, scientists and musicians. They include the painters Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir John Everett Millais; the scientist Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin; the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan); and the sculptor Henry Moore.

Did you know?

The crypt of St Paul's is the largest in Western Europe, and unusually for a cathedral, is the exact 'footprint' of the cathedral floor.

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OBE Chapel

At the east end of the Crypt is the OBE Chapel. It was dedicated to the Order of the British Empire in 1960.The glass panels feature the present sovereign, scenes from the Commonwealth, commerce and the royal founders of the Order. Banners hanging from the ceilings represent members of the Royal Family.