St Paul's in London, cathedral of the Anglican bishop. It is located within the central City of London, atop Ludgate Hill and northeast of Blackfriars. In the 1660s Christopher Wren was enlisted to survey and repair the cathedral, but it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London (1666) before work could begin. Wren subsequently designed and oversaw the construction of the present cathedral, which was built mainly of Portland stone. His plans were approved in 1675, and work was carried out until 1710. During the 19th century some decorative changes were made to the interior of the cathedral in an attempt to bring it in line with Victorian tastes. In 1941, during the Battle of Britain, civil defense brigades protected the structure from fire, although it washit directly by bombs; at one point an unexploded bomb was removed, at great risk, from the nave. Repairs were carried out following the war. Wren's design combined Neoclassical, Gothic, and Baroque elements in an attempt to symbolize the ideals of both the English Restoration and 17th-century scientific philosophy. His finished cathedral differed greatly from theplan approved in 1675, however. Wren apparently based many of his modifications on an earlier (1673), unapproved plan for St. Paul's, which was first given shape in his 20-foot-long