The foundation stone of St. Paul's Cathedral was laid in 1675, and it was opened for Divine service in 1697, having risen without any serious delay or interruption under one architect - Wren; one dean - Compton; and one master mason - Strong.
The chief cost was borne by the celebrated coal duty granted by Parliament to meet the expenses of the rebuilding of London, and renewed from time to time as occasion required.
This was further supplemented by private subscription, and according to Dean Milman the total receipts for the cathedral between August 1664, and March 1685, amounted to £126,604 6s. 5d., and the total disbursements to £ 124,261 4s. 11d.
The later subscription lists, copies not having been sent as usual to the muniment room at St. Paul's, were irreparably lost in a fire at Guildhall; but the total sum expended on the new cathedral and on repairs of the old amounted to £736,752 2s. 3 1/2d.
The charge of keeping the building in repair was left, not to the Dean and Chapter, but to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, and the Lord Mayor for the time being, a special Act of Parliament being passed to invest these dignitaries with full authority; but the only provision left for the costly responsibilities connected with their office was a residue from the coal duty, to which was added later a bequest by Dean Clark of about £500.