I heard some of the columns of the dome in St Paul's cathedral don't support anything?

Question

I know some of Sir Christopher Wren's structures had columns that didnt support anything purely because the powers that be said his original designs, in short, weren't safe and extra columns were needed. He built the columns to satisfy demands, but left an inch room at the top because he knew the structure could support its own weight.

I heard this also applied to the dome of St Paul's, and that in WWII, a bomb fell through the first layer of the roof but didn't explode. When they went up to defuse it, they discovered some of the columns were not actually supporting the weight of the dome.

Is this true, or just a few true stories that have been mashed together?
(source please if possible)

Answer 1

It is true but the stories are I think a bit confused- it is in the Windsor Guildhall that Wren designed which the councillors inisited needed columns and so he left them short. http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/guildhall/images/gldhallcolumns.jpg



The dome of St Paul's is a false one - the lantern is being supported by a huge brick cone - which is properly supported - the whole thing bound together with iron chains to stop it bursting. The columns round the drum below the dome do support it - several are joined together with niches to allow te forces to pass through to the crossing below, A lightweight timber skin supports the lead of the outer dome which is where the incendiary became lodged. A much shallower inner dome painted by Thornhill is suspended below the cone - and is what you see from below.



http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.images.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dstructure%2Bof%2Bst%2Bpaul%2527s%2Bcathedral%26ei%3Dutf-8%26y%3DSearch&w=440&h=360&imgurl=www.explore-stpauls.net%2Foct03%2Fimages%2Fmovieimg%2FDomeConstruction04.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.explore-stpauls.net%2Foct03%2FtextMM%2FDomeConstructionN.htm&size=22k&name=DomeConstruction...&p=structure+of+st+paul%27s+cathedral&oid=012f2e740bc80f0a&fr2=&no=9&tt=312&sigr=121pe5gnq&sigi=124mjhshd&sigb=136sf0mrp





Another interesting structure is the ceiling of the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford in which a large unsupported plane is made up of short interlocking sections of timber. So strong in fact that the printing presses of the Clarendon publishing firm were housed in the roof space above for years with no problem.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizsmith/2260769175/

Answer 2

This is a topic that has been sitting in my draft box for almost a year – and I thought I should finish it up. Originally I was going to title this the “Top 10 Cathedrals You Should See Before You Stop Seeing Cathedrals” because that’s really what this list is – churches worth going to and checking out – but that title isn’t very good. The list could also have been 100 cathedrals long – I had a hard time stopping with the ones on this list. I suppose what I am trying to say is that this is not my list of the top ten cathedrals, rather it is the first ten cathedrals on this list.



http://www.nomoreseams.com

Answer 3

I have also asked this same question so many times, and did not get a good answer