Paternoster Row

Paternoster Row lies in the City of London, just north of St Paul’s Cathedral. Once the heart of London’s book trade, it stretched through alleys and courts where publishers and booksellers worked for centuries. The street was part of St Paul’s Churchyard, a busy precinct of printers and bookbinders. After the Great Fire of 1666, trade revived and the area flourished again. During the Second World War, heavy bombing in December 1940 destroyed most of the street and countless books. Today the rebuilt Paternoster Square stands where the old row once ran. The street’s name comes from the Latin ‘Pater Noster’, the opening of the Lord’s Prayer. Monks from St Paul’s Cathedral recited it in processions along this route. Another story links the name to the making of paternoster beads, used by illiterate monks for daily prayers. The row was home to famous publishers such as Trübner & Co and Longmans. A bust of Aldus Manutius, placed above number 13 in 1820, still marks the street’s past. Charlotte Brontë and her sister stayed at the Chapter Coffeehouse in 1847 while meeting their publisher. Visitors now walk a pedestrianised route through Paternoster Square and the rebuilt St Paul’s Churchyard. The square holds the modern London Stock Exchange at its west end. A paved area around St Paul’s Coop leads to the tube station entrance. A bust of Aldus Manutius remains above a building façade. The route passes side streets like Canon Alley, once called Pissing Alley. Signs mark parts of the old street, though much of the original layout has gone. The surroundings blend modern offices with echoes of the book trade’s long history.