St Bride, City of London
St Bride, City of London
St Bride’s on Fleet Street is a Grade I City church designed by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, long associated with printers and journalists. It stands in the Diocese of London.
- Location
- City of London, Greater London
- Country
- England
- County
- Greater London
- City / town
- City of London
- Address
- Fleet Street, City of London, Greater London, EC4Y 8AU
- Postcode
- EC4Y 8AU
- Built
- 1670–84 by Wren; interior reconstructed after the Blitz
- Architect
- Christopher Wren
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Bride
- Diocese
- London
- Parish
- St Bride Fleet Street
- Grade
- I
- Style
- English Baroque
- Materials
- Portland stone
- Grid reference
- TQ 315 811
- Opening hours
- The church is open to all during the following hours: Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm. Saturday: hours vary (contact office). Sunday: 10am to 6.30pm.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
- Website
- http://www.stbrides.com/
Overview
Historic England records a church of 1670–84 by Wren: an aisled nave with clerestory, shallow chancel and west tower flanked by lobbies, faced in Portland stone. Tall round-arched windows, an elaborated three-light east window, pedimented north doorways and elliptical clerestory windows mark the exterior. The stone steeple — Wren’s famous tiered “wedding cake” — is of particular distinction. The interior was burnt in the Second World War and rebuilt in near facsimile: coupled Doric columns support the arcade and plaster vault. The gallery was omitted and the east end altered. No old fittings survive. Two stone figures of charity children from the former school stand at the west end. Footings of earlier churches and Roman buildings have been uncovered in the crypt.
Wikipedia notes a dedication to Brigid of Kildare, possibly from the sixth century, and complete destruction in the Great Fire of 1666. Wren’s church was gutted in the Blitz in 1940 and reconstructed in the 1950s. It was listed Grade I on 4 January 1950. The parish remains St Bride Fleet Street.