On the evening of 19 December 1951, a team of architects and scientists staged a dramatic demonstration inside St Paul’s: firing a Colt revolver beneath the dome. Each shot echoed and lingered for nearly twelve seconds, revealing the cathedral’s extreme reverberation. The purpose? To quantify the cathedral’s acoustic fingerprint and test a prototype speech amplification system tailored to cut through the long echoes
The pistol-fired test was the culmination of half-a-century of acoustic experiments across Britain—starting in 1901 at Westminster Cathedral and evolving through various significant sites—leading to this highly public demonstration at one of London’s most iconic and sonorous structures.
Smyth frames the St Paul’s tests as a milestone in architectural acoustics: where reverberation was measured, optimized, and ultimately harnessed through innovative technology and public demonstration. It's where ancient stone meets cutting-edge science.
Fiona is an Assistant Professor in Architectural History and Theory at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Newnham College. Fiona was previously a lecturer and Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and prior to that was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University.
Fiona’s book “Pistols in St Paul’s” is published by Manchester University Press.
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Please note: Temple Bar will be open for ticket holders from 18:05, please arrive in good time to be checked in and seated by 18:25. Our public talks start at promptly at 18:30.
