King Henry I. died nearly at the same time, and as there was a contest
for the throne ensuing on his death, so was there for the bishopric
of London. In the interval, Henry de Blois, the famous Bishop of
Winchester, was appointed to administer the affairs of St. Paul's, and
almost immediately he had to deal with a calamity. Another great fire
broke out at London Bridge in 1135, and did damage more or less all
the way to St. Clement Danes. Matthew Paris speaks of St. Paul's as
having been destroyed. This was certainly not the case, but serious
injury was done, and the progress of the building was greatly delayed.
Bishop Henry called on his people of Winchester to help in the
rebuilding, putting forward the plea that though St. Paul was the
great Apostle of the West, and had planted so many churches, this was
the only cathedral dedicated to him. During these years Architecture
was ever on the change, and, as was always the custom, the builders in
any given case did not trouble themselves to follow the style in which
a work had been begun, but went on with whatever was in use then.
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