In 1630, the 4th Earl of Bedford was given permission to demolish buildings on an area of land he owned north of the Strand, and redevelop it.
The result was the Covent Garden Piazza, the first formal square in London.
The new buildings were classical in character.
At the west end was a church, linked to two identical houses.
The south side was left open.

Work on the church was completed in 1633, at a cost to the Bedford estate of £4,886, but it was not consecrated until 1638 due to a dispute between the earl and the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields.
It remained a chapel within the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields until January 1646, when Covent Garden was made a separate parish and the church dedicated to St. Paul.

In 1789 there was a major restoration of the church, under the direction of the architect Thomas Hardwick.
 Six years later, in September 1795, the church was burnt out by a fire, accidentally started by workmen on the roof.
 A survey of the damage found that the outer walls were still structurally sound, but that the portico would have to be reconstructed.
It is unclear whether this was in fact done.
Having been restored once more, again under Hardwick's supervision, the church was reconsecrated on 1 August 1798.
Despite the destruction, the parish records were saved, as was the pulpit — the work of Grinling Gibbons.

The puritan Thomas Manton ministered from the pulpit of St Paul's until the Great Ejection.
On 23 September 1662 Simon Patrick, later Bishop of Ely, was preferred to the rectory of St. Paul's where he served during the plague.

The first known victim of the 1665–1666 outbreak of the Plague in England, Margaret Ponteous, was buried in the churchyard on 12 April 1665.
In 1630, the 4th Earl of Bedford was given permission to demolish buildings on an area of land he owned north of the Strand, and redevelop it. The result was the Covent Garden Piazza, the first formal square in London. The new buildings were classical in character. At the west end was a church, linked to two identical houses. The south side was left open.
Work on the church was completed in 1633, at a cost to the Bedford estate of £4,886, but it was not consecrated until 1638 due to a dispute between the earl and the vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. It remained a chapel within the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields until January 1646, when Covent Garden was made a separate parish and the church dedicated to St. Paul.
In 1789 there was a major restoration of the church, under the direction of the architect Thomas Hardwick.  Six years later, in September 1795, the church was burnt out by a fire, accidentally started by workmen on the roof.  A survey of the damage found that the outer walls were still structurally sound, but that the portico would have to be reconstructed. It is unclear whether this was in fact done. Having been restored once more, again under Hardwick's supervision, the church was reconsecrated on 1 August 1798. Despite the destruction, the parish records were saved, as was the pulpit — the work of Grinling Gibbons.
The puritan Thomas Manton ministered from the pulpit of St Paul's until the Great Ejection. On 23 September 1662 Simon Patrick, later Bishop of Ely, was preferred to the rectory of St. Paul's where he served during the plague.
The first known victim of the 1665–1666 outbreak of the Plague in England, Margaret Ponteous, was buried in the churchyard on 12 April 1665.
St Paul's, Covent Garden