St Bride's Church on Fleet Street is traditionally founded in the sixth century and is at least the seventh church on its site. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the church, and Christopher Wren's replacement, designed in 1672, reopened on December 19, 1675. The spire was added in 1701 to 1703 and is attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor. It rises 226 feet (69 meters), the second-highest of Wren's spires after St Paul's Cathedral.
In 1500 Wynkyn de Worde set up a printing press next door, beginning the church's long link with newspapers and journalism. Samuel Pepys was baptized here.
Incendiary bombs gutted the church on December 29, 1940, and newspaper proprietors and journalists funded the rebuild. The crypt is the Museum of Fleet Street. It is Grade I listed.
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