Securing the tradition of sung worship at St Paul's

We are seeking to raise £3m to secure the future of sung worship at St Paul’s Cathedral through building new Chorister accommodation at St Paul’s Cathedral School. Can you join the Cathedral community and our valued partners by making a gift that will help us with this vital project? 

St Paul’s Cathedral Choir is known the world over as a leading example of the Anglican choral tradition. At the heart of this Choir are the 30 Choristers whose distinctive voices are heard on important state occasions, like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and also at regular Evensong services which take place every day at the Cathedral.  

Given their rigorous schedule, the choristers need to live on site and their term-time home is a dedicated boarding facility at St Paul’s Cathedral School. Built in the 1960s for just 40 children and residential staff, the School now educates over 200 day pupils alongside the Choristers and the wellbeing of all the children is compromised by these cramped conditions. This has an inevitable impact on the quality of teaching and musical performance – without a new boarding space there is a very real threat to the Cathedral’s ability to maintain this exceptional choir.

St Paul’s prides itself on the fact that financial circumstance has never been a barrier to becoming a chorister – we have been educating children since the 12th century, when funds were provided for the tuition and housing of needy boys who were trained to sing at Cathedral services. Currently, we are extremely fortunate to receive generous philanthropic support from individuals, trusts and foundations and City Livery Companies, that ensures every child who shows enough promise to be accepted as a probationary Chorister can take up this life-changing opportunity. The Choristers come from all walks of life and all family backgrounds.

In summer 2019 we will break ground on ambitious new project which will transform the experience of the Choristers and pupils of St Paul’s Cathedral School. By building a new boarding house we will secure the opportunity to add classrooms and much needed play space at the School, as well as new public spaces through which we will be able to provide further opportunities for the local community and partner institutions.  

The new Chorister boarding house will replace the nave of St Augustine’s Church, linking the Grade I listed St Augustine’s Tower with the existing Grade II boarding house. St Augustine’s was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666, rebuilt to Christopher Wren’s design in 1680-96 and then bombed during World War II in 1941, leaving only the Wren tower. St Paul’s Cathedral School was designed in the 1960s by the Architects’ Co-Partnership, with Kilburn Nightingale, who have a long-standing relationship with St Paul’s Cathedral School, creating the designs that underpin this new addition.  

We would like to thank our current project supporters, including St Paul’s Cathedral Chorister Trust, The Linbury Trust, Allsop LLP, the Worshipful Company of Masons and the many generous individuals who have made philanthropic gifts that will help us ensure the continuation of sung worship at St Paul’s Cathedral for many years to come. Please help us secure the remainder of the funds required by making a gift today.  

For more information on the project visit https://www.spcslondon.com/news-events/building-project 

To find out how you can support us, please contact Nicky Wynne, Director of Development on 020 7246 8329 or via email on nwynne@stpaulscathedral.org.uk.

If you are based in the US, please visit St Paul's Cathedral Trust in America to donate via our partner 501(c)(3) charity.