Building a Fortune: The Finances of the Stonemasons Working on the Rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral 1675-1720

A number of writers have postulated that the rebuilding of London after the great Fire saw the birth the modern building firm and speculated on the amount of money that contractors made from building in the period. Actually calculating the amount of money some of the contractors made has proved much more difficult. This paper looks at the problems involved. It concentrates on a number of individuals for whom more information survives than any others: the stonemasons at St Paul's Cathedral. It shows that, while most craftsmen were poorly paid, a few could get very rich indeed.