paul’s work, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

paul’s work n.

[SE poor work or ref. to a Paul’s man, anyone who frequented St Paul’s Cathedral, London, for gossip, confidence trickery etc.]

a badly done job, a mess.

1602		Dekker Satiromastix II ii: And when he had done, made Poules-worke of it.
1620		in Court and Times James I (1848) II 203: But I doubt, when all is done, it will prove, as they say Paul’s work .
1673		S’too him Bayes 15: But I must dispatch, for I see He’s making Paul’s work on’t already [Nares].