Choral Evensong service at St. Paul’s Cathedral
Useful things to know before your visit
Address: St. Paul’s, St. Paul’s Churchyard, The City EC4M 8AD. Telephone: 0207 246 8350
What are the dates and times?
Every day · Usually 5 PM to 5.45 PM (Mon-Sat) and 3 PM to 3.45 PM (Sun) · Note: Evensong will sometimes be replaced by a spoken Evening Prayer or some other special service, and you should check your date on stpauls.co.uk
How much do the tickets cost?
Free to attend the mass, but you need to buy a ticket if you want to see the rest of the Cathedral (which you have to do before the mass, as the Cathedral shuts straight after) · Usual entry cost: Adult £24; Senior (65+) £21.50; Young adult (16-17) £9.50; Child (6-15) £9.50; Infant (under-6) free; Family (1ad+up to 3ch) £33.50; Family (2ad+up to 3ch) £57.50
Which buses go to St. Paul’s?
Bus routes 4, 8, 15, 17, 23, 25, 26, 56, 76, 100, 172, 242 and 521 all stop close by
Which is the closest train station?
The nearest station is St. Paul’s on the Central line. It only takes a minute to walk to St. Paul’s
Which other attractions are nearby?
These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of St. Paul’s: One New Change, Postman’s Park, Guildhall, Guildhall Art Gallery, London Mithraeum, St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Mansion House, Dr. Johnson’s House, London Museum, Globe Theatre, Bank of England Museum, Tate Modern, Royal Exchange and Temple Church
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EmailMy review of Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral
You usually have to buy a ticket to see inside St. Paul's but if you attend one of these Evensong services then you can get inside for free. You can't walk any further than the central dome though, or climb any of the stairs, but even so, that's still a large part of the cathedral you can see for nothing.
Photo: londondrum.comIf you turn up a bit early then you can even nip inside the crypt and get a distant glimpse of Nelson's tomb through the big iron gate. Just look for the door round the lefthand side of the front steps that takes you down into the gift shop and restaurant - but don't make the same mistake that I did today and come out with only thirty minutes to spare because you'll discover that half of the congregation have already beaten you inside.
If you want a decent seat then aim to be in the queue by 4.30 PM to give you time to get through security. Once you're through the front door you have to pass another little barrier where they hand out the order of service. Then you can just take a seat and wait for the service to start, sharing the space with about a million billion other people all walking around with their audio-guides on.
Photo: londondrum.comIf you're lucky then you'll get to hear the choir going through some vocal warm-ups before the service starts. Most of the time it will be the Vicars Choral and thirty boy and girl choristers - some as young as seven or eight - but on Thursday's it's just the Vicars Choral on their own. On Monday they usually have a visiting choir.
As it gets closer to 5 PM all of the tourists are ushered out and part of the congregation seems to disappear at this point as well, belatedly realising that an actual mass is about to start and having second thoughts. Then all of a sudden the organ pipes up and the priests parade in behind a six-foot cross, smoke billowing from a swinging incense holder that envelopes everyone in that wonderful smell of Christmas.
Photo: londondrum.comThe music is absolutely amazing. It's one thing hearing it on the radio, or watching it on TV, but when you're standing fifteen feet away it's powerful enough to actually affect your insides. The cathedral seems to make it linger long after they've stopped singing, wringing every last second out of the notes until they waft away like smoke into the dome.
Luckily we're not expected to sing anything ourselves - there are no hymns for the congregation. The service just consists of a sermon, some prayers and a reading from the Bible. Towards the end they offer everyone a sip of wine and holy communion but lots of people just stay in their seat.
Photo: londondrum.comSixty minutes later it's all over and you have time for a very quick look around before dropping some money in the offering box.
So how does it compare to the Evensong at Westminster Abbey? If you only have time for one then I would definitely choose the Abbey. Not that there's anything wrong with the service at St. Paul's, but I just prefer Westminster Abbey as a building because the cathedral seems very bright and white inside, whereas the Abbey is a lot darker and more intimate, and I just think that a church service is better held in the dark.
I’ve ranked the Evensong at St. Paul’s as ★3 in the must-see London landmarks, ★4 in the 25 things to do in London at least once, ★5 in London’s best free days out and ★9 in my favourite places for photos in London
It also appears in my best way to see London in a day itineraries, two free London itineraries and three 2-day London itineraries
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Still looking for things to do? See things happening in London today, London events tomorrow, London events this weekend, the best events in London in November and what’s on near St. Paul’s Cathedral this weekend
What do you think? (5)
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Dalia What time is the Evensong Mass, please? (reply)
Craig It’s usually 5 to 5.45 PM (Mon-Sat) and 3.15 to 4 PM (Sun), but they put it back an hour in August. You might want to check your date on the calendar on the St. Paul’s website to be sure, because they sometimes have other services and events on – stpauls.co.uk/calendar/month (reply)
LOREN PINKERMAN Somewhere I saw that there would be a Celebration of Christmas sponsored by Lloyds at 6:30 on Dec 16. Is that correct, and, if so, where do I get tickets? (reply)
Craig Hi Loren. It doesn’t look like St. Paul’s have put their Christmas schedule on their site yet, because the link to their Lloyds concert goes nowhere, but it will appear here when they do – stpauls.co.uk/calendar/month/05_Dec_2021 (reply)
Jane Craig you might like to try St. Barts the Great. V old. V high church. Loads of incense. Some singing in Latin. Charismatic and smart bunch of preachers, if you ever want to listen. Whether you believe or not, these people can sometimes make a lot of sense. And their choir is terrific. Smaller but the oldest parish church in London. (reply)
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