Editing Paternoster Square

{{Short description|Square in the City of London, England}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Paternoster Square
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| image                   = Paternoster Square.jpg
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| caption                 = Paternoster Square, redeveloped in 2003, is near [[St Paul's Cathedral]].
| map_type                = London
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| namesake                = Paternoster Row
| type                    = Urban development
| owner                   = [[Mitsubishi Estate]]
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| coordinates             = {{coord|51|30|53|N|0|5|58|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title, inline}}
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| designer                =
| known_for               = Location of the [[London Stock Exchange]]
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| website                 = [http://www.paternosterlondon.co.uk/ www.paternosterlondon.co.uk]
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Paternoster Square 2007.jpg|thumb|Paternoster Square]]
'''Paternoster Square''' is a former historic square, renamed from Newgate Market c. 1872,<ref name=history_2_s11>{{cite web | url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/dictionary-of-london/parrot-alley-paternosterchurch-street#h2-s11 | title=Parrot Alley, Aldgate high Street - Paternosterchurch Street &#124; British History Online }}</ref> and now a post-war urban redevelopment, owned by the [[Mitsubishi Estate]], next to [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in the [[City of London]]. The area was previously named [[Paternoster Row]], after the street of the same name, once centre of the London [[publishing]] trade and was devastated by aerial bombardment in [[The Blitz]] during [[World War II]]. It is now the location of the [[London Stock Exchange]] which relocated there from [[Threadneedle Street]] in 2004. It is also the location of investment banks such as [[Goldman Sachs]], [[Merrill (company)|Merrill]] and [[Nomura Securities]], and of fund manager [[Fidelity Investments]]. The square itself, i.e. the plaza, is [[privately owned public space]]. In 2004, [[Christopher Wren]]'s 1669 [[Temple Bar Gate]] was re-erected here as an entrance way to the plaza.

The square is near the top of a modest rise known as [[Ludgate Hill]], formerly one of the two highest points in the City of London. It is characterised by its pedestrianisation and colonnades.

==Historic square==
The historic square was formerly the site of Newgate Market, a meat market serving much of London.  By the late nineteenth<ref name=history_2_s11/> century it was called Paternoster Square,<!-- This may have been to dissociate itself from the meat market which was regarded as a blight --> taking the name from Paternoster Row.  It was accessed on the north by Rose Street (originally Roe Street), the west by White Hart Street and the south and east by alleys, which came out in the centre of the sides of the square.  In comparison, the modern, extended, White Hart Street meets a longer Rose Street (which now runs just west of the original square) north of the current Paternoster Square.  The only area the old and new square have in common is a small strip outside Warwick Court, where part of the building is set further back.

==World War II bombing==
The City of London was hit by one of the heaviest night raids of The Blitz on the night of 29 December 1940. Buildings on [[Paternoster Row]], housing the publishing companies [[Simpkin & Marshall]], Hutchinsons, [[Blackwood (publishing house)|Blackwood]], [[Longman]] and [[HarperCollins|Collins]] were destroyed. St Paul's Cathedral remained intact.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/mol-in6898|title=Bomb damage to Paternoster Square during the Blitz|website=[[Museum of London]]|accessdate=13 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815031801/http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/mol-in6898|archive-date=15 August 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==1960s rebuilding==
In 1956, the Corporation of London published [[William Holford|Sir William Holford]]'s proposals for redeveloping the precinct north of [[St Paul's Cathedral]]. Holford's report attempted to resolve problems of traffic flow in the vicinity of the cathedral, while protecting the cathedral's presence as a national monument on some of the highest ground of the City, at the top of [[Ludgate Hill]], on the north bank of the [[River Thames]].<ref>Pevsner, Nikolaus and Games, Stephen (ed), ''Pevsner: The Complete Broadcasts'', "A Setting for St. Paul's", Ashgate 2014</ref> The report was controversial, however, because it introduced a decisively modern note alongside the foremost work of Britain's foremost 17th-century architect, [[Christopher Wren]].

Rebuilding was carried out between 1961 and 1967, but it involved only part of Holford's concept — the area of Paternoster Square between St Paul's churchyard and [[Newgate|Newgate Street]] — and this included undistinguished buildings by other architects and the omission of some of Holford's features. [[Robert Finch (Lord Mayor)|Robert Finch]], the [[Lord Mayor of London]], wrote of it in ''[[The Guardian]]'' in 2004, that it was made up of "ghastly, monolithic constructions without definition or character".<ref>{{cite news |author=Robert Finch, Lord Mayor of London |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/buildings/story/0,12879,1223138,00.html |title=Wonders and blunders |work=[[The Guardian]]|date=24 May 2004 |accessdate=13 September 2011}}</ref>

==1980s and 1990s==
In the late 1980s, many tenants moved to other London sites, resulting in a number of premises being left vacant. That prompted landlords and the City of London to welcome proposals to redevelop the area. In 1990, architect [[John Simpson (architect)|John Simpson]] developed a scheme, sponsored by a newspaper competition and championed by the [[Charles III|Prince of Wales]]. It featured [[classical architecture|classically inspired]] architecture, which would have been sympathetic with the nearby cathedral.<ref name="prince">{{cite news|author=Giles Worsley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/11/05/bapat05.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/11/05/ixartright.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051031070108/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2003/11/05/bapat05.xml&sSheet=/arts/2003/11/05/ixartright.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2005 |title=Peace descends on St Paul's |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date= 5 November 2003|accessdate=13 September 2011 |location=London}}</ref>

In 1996, permission was granted for a master plan by [[William Whitfield (architect)|Sir William Whitfield]], which was finally built. The development was implemented by developers, [[Stanhope plc]] and [[Mitsubishi Estate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.commercialnewsmedia.com/archives/109996|title=Work starts on Mitsubishi and Stanhope's Warwick Court refurb|date=15 March 2021|newspaper=Commercial News Media |access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/get-involved/translating-good-growth-london-historic-environment-120717-pdf|title=Translating Good Growth for London's Historic Environment|page=45|publisher=Historic England| access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref> By October 2003, the redeveloped square was complete, lined with buildings by Whitfield's firm among others. Among the first new tenants was the [[London Stock Exchange]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/apr/08/theobserver.observerbusiness4|title=Relief in City as London Stock Exchange chooses Paternoster Square|date=8 April 2001|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref>

==Occupy London and public space controversy==
The [[London Stock Exchange]] was the initial target for the protesters of [[Occupy London]] on 15 October 2011. Attempts to occupy Paternoster Square were thwarted by police,<ref name="occupy-london">{{Cite news|date=16 October 2011|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/oct/16/occupy-london-protest-second-day|title=Occupy London protest continues into second day|work=The Guardian|location=London|first=Caroline|last=Davies}}</ref> Police sealed off the entrance to Paternoster Square. A High Court [[injunction]] had been granted against public access to the square, defining it as private property.<ref name="exchange-occupation">{{Cite news|date=15 October 2011|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2011/10/15/stock-exchange-occupation-blocked-91466-29601928/|title=Stock exchange occupation blocked|work=WalesOnline|location=Wales}}</ref> The square was repeatedly described as 'public space' in the plans for Paternoster Square, meaning the public is granted access but does not designate the square as a [[Rights of way in England and Wales|right of way under English law]], thus the owner can limit access at any time.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/nov/13/london-river-park-floating-public-space | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Rowan | last=Moore | title=The London River Park: place for the people or a private playground? | date=13 November 2011}}</ref>

==Monuments and sculpture==
[[File:St Paul's Cathedral dome from Paternoster Square - London - 240404.jpg|thumb|right|[[St Paul's Cathedral]] dome and the Paternoster Square Column, from Paternoster Square]]

The main monument in the redeveloped square is the {{Convert|75|ft|m}} tall Paternoster Square Column.<ref>[http://www.cwo.uk.com/projects/paternoster_column.html Paternoster Square Column] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040803045316/http://www.cwo.uk.com/projects/paternoster_column.html |date=3 August 2004 }}</ref>  It is a [[Corinthian order|Corinthian column]] of [[Portland stone]] topped by a [[gold leaf]] covered flaming copper urn, which is illuminated by [[fibre-optic]] lighting at night. The column was designed by William Whitfield's firm Whitfield Partners, and also serves as a ventilation shaft for a service road that runs beneath the square.<ref name="prince" />

At the north end of the square is the [[bronze statue|bronze]] ''[[Paternoster (sculpture)|Paternoster]]'' (also known as ''Shepherd and Sheep'') by [[Elisabeth Frink|Dame Elisabeth Frink]]. The statue was commissioned for the previous Paternoster Square complex in 1975, and was given a new plinth following the redevelopment. Another sculpture in the adjoining Paternoster Lane is ''[[Paternoster Vents]]'' by [[Thomas Heatherwick]].

[[Temple Bar Gate]], a Wren-designed stone archway constructed between 1669 and 1672 on [[Fleet Street]] at [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]] (the historic western ceremonial entrance to the City), has been in front of the cathedral side entrance since 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cwo.uk.com/pages/historic+stone+building+restoration+paternoster+square|title=CWO – Stone Building Restoration and Repair, Paternoster Square Temple Bar, London|publisher=Cwo.uk.com|accessdate=13 September 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120724012801/http://www.cwo.uk.com/pages/historic+stone+building+restoration+paternoster+square|archivedate=24 July 2012}}</ref> Contractors were paid £3,000,000 to restore it and move it from a site in [[Theobalds Park]] by the [[Corporation of London]], which received donations from the Temple Bar Trust and more than one [[livery company]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Local_history_and_heritage/Buildings_within_the_City/temple_bar.htm|title=Temple Bar|publisher=Cityoflondon.gov.uk|date=10 November 2004|accessdate=13 September 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925015413/http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Leisure_and_culture/Local_history_and_heritage/Buildings_within_the_City/temple_bar.htm|archivedate=25 September 2011}}</ref>  Its original site on Fleet Street, where it stood until 1878, is occupied by the [[Temple Bar Memorial]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://archive.today/20120724012801/http://www.cwo.uk.com/pages/historic+stone+building+restoration+paternoster+square CWO] construction of Paternoster Column

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Redevelopment projects in London]]
[[Category:Squares in the City of London]]
[[Category:Odonyms referring to religion]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in the City of London]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:Privately owned public spaces]]
[[Category:William Whitfield (architect) buildings]]