Sunday, November 16, 2008

Old Old Old Church


My excursion to St. Bride's Fleet Street Church was definitely of note. I was interested in the name, first of all, because I know that St. Bride, refers to St. Bridget. This is the saint that McBride, a prominent family name of mine, comes from. An old church with her as the patron saint was definitely of interest to me.

Upon entering the church, set in the middle of a busy part of the city, I had no idea just how old the church was. The site that the current church is set on is one of seven in that have occupied that very spot for about 2000 years. That goes all the way back to the Celts, Romans, and Anglo Saxons! In the Crypt there was a an exhibit showing the history of the church. If the church could speak, I'm sure it could give a very extraordinary biography of London, because it has seen it all. It saw the Great Plague, the medieval version of the church was consumed by The Great Fire, this was followed by witnessing Wren's genius in rebuilding the new church. This church saw  the bombings of WWII, and other important events in history. This church also has strong ties with the history of the printing press in England, which has continued to abound on
Fleet Street for the last 500 years.

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