I have a book of sketches by Hanslip Fletcher called Bombed London. He drew the pictures during World War Two and published many of them in The Daily Telegraph at the time. They are a fascinating collection of images of the old city at a time of high distress but, even so, they are rather beautiful and present views that would never have been visible but for the horror of the Luftwaffe. The bombs cleared spaces that revealed fantastic views. Its an ill wind and all that…

I occasionally search out where these sketches were made and look to see what’s there now and what happened to the view.

The picture below was entitled “St Paul’s from Paternoster Row.”

He described it as follows: “In the great air raid of December 29, 1940, the area north of St Paul’s Cathedral was laid waste. Paternoster Row, for so many centuries famous for its booksellers, was devastated from end to end; its course is seen across the drawing. Between the Row and St Paul’s are the ruins of the Chapter House.”

You can see that the old Paternoster Row that runs from left to right has been devastated. You can also see just how lucky we are to have St Paul’s in our midst these days. The bombs must have landed all around it without significantly damaging it whatsoever. It remains one of London’s defining buildings and in many ways, its heart.

St Paul’s from Paternoster Row by Hanslip Fletcher

Paternoster Row has, of course, been rebuilt. As a large but uninspiring redbrick box, retail on the ground floor and offices above. How dull. And how unsurprising.

Where once there was devastation and a bomb site, there is now a redbrick nonentity.

This is the red brick non-entity in its (lack of) glory. Who thought this was a good idea in the neighbourhood of St Paul’s.

Its impossible, these days, to see the view that Hanslip Fletcher captured after bombs had destroyed much of the area on that night in 1940. The new Paternoster Row fills much of the vista. Only a sliver of the cathedral can be seen from Canon Alley which splits the redbrick nonentity. That sliver still looks pretty impressive.

On the day I visited a crew were filming Canon Alley and you can see them in my photos going about their work. Unusually their camera was pointed away from the Cathedral. It missed the best view but was aimed at just about where Hanslip Fletcher must have stood when he made his drawing so long ago.

All that is left of the view of St Paul’s in the Hanslip Fletcher picture is this sliver of St Paul’s.

The film crew bizarrely have their backs to the beautiful cathedral.