Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
St. Bride's Church
The 226-foot steeple, Wren's tallest, is stacked in layers as it tapers to a point. It's said to
have inspired the wedding cake. Supposedly, a Fleet Street baker named Mr. Rich gazed
out his shop window at St. Bride's as he made the first multitiered cake. (By the way,
the word “Bride” in St. Bride's is only coincidental. The church was dedicated to St.
Bridgit—or Bride—of Kildare long before the steeple or any wedding cakes.)
St. Bride's, built between 1671 and 1675, was one of the first of Wren's churches to
open its doors after the Fire. St. Bride's is nicknamed both “The Cathedral of Fleet Street”
and “The Printer's Church.” Notice that the pews bear the names of departed journal-
ists. It has been home to newspaper reporters, scholars, and literati ever since 1500, when
Wynkyn de Worde set up his printing press here on church property. De Worde's press first
served the literate clergy of St. Bride's, but was soon adopted by secular scholars, book-
makers, and newspapers, as Fleet Street became a global center for printed information.
During World War II, St. Bride's suffered terribly in the Blitz. (Today's structure was
largely rebuilt after the war.) But thanks to Hitler's bombs, St. Bride's was instantly excav-
ated down to its sixth-century Saxon foundations. Layers of previously unknown history
