What is the cathedral of Fleet Street

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A.� It's a fancy name - no doubt given by one of the denizens of Fleet Street - for the magnificent St Bride's Church. It is know as the printers' church and the reporters' church.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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And it is there that many memorial services are held for those wrote, drank, and even sometimes worshipped in Fleet Street.

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Q.� It's a long connection

A.� Yes. St Bride's link with the print trade dates back five centuries. William Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, brought England's first moveable-type press to St Bride's churchyard in 1501.

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Q.� What, you mean graveyard

A.� Much more than that. Churchyards in those days were like small villages, with shops, taverns, houses and other businesses. It was a good place for de Worde to penetrate a key market - the clergy, who were the most literate group of the time and would therefore need a lot of printing done. Soon, though, playwrights, poets and writers were queuing up and rival presses quickly set up in competition. Fleet Street, the publishing centre, was born.

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Q.� Was it a new church then

A.� Far from it. A church of St Bride has stood on the same site for 1,500 years. The church as it is now is the eighth building dedicated to St Bride, also known as St Bridget of Kildare, Ireland.

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The first known stone church was built there in the Sixth Century, probably by a community of Celts. By Norman times, St Bride's had become a prominent city church. King John even held a parliament there in 1210.

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Q.� And today's building

A.� It's a restoration of Sir Christopher Wren's church of 1675, rebuilt after the Great Fire of London [click here for a feature on that] and then destroyed in the Blitz. All that remains of Wren's work today is the minstrel's gallery and the marvellous steeple.

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A.� Never a truer word! In fact, the wedding cake is based on St Bride's. The whole idea of the multi-layered wedding cake began when a Fleet Street baker set out to copy Wren's tower in confectionery. The fashion has continued for nearly 300 years.

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Q.� Are the printing connections commemorated

A.� Yes. After de Worde started his trade, great writers flocked to live in the streets surrounding St Bride's, just to be near their publishers. Dryden and Milton lodged within a few hundred yards. Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist [click here for a feature on him] was born in nearby Axe Lane and baptised in the church. His contemporary, John Evelyn, lived in Fetter Lane, in the same parish.

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An exhibition chronicling the church's close association with the press is on permanent display in the crypt.

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Q.� And it's still in use as a conventional church

A.� Yes. Holy communion is held in the crypt at 8.30am, Monday to Thursday, with matins at 8.30am on Friday. Holy communion is held at 1.15pm every Thursday. Every Sunday at 11am, there's choral matins and eucharist, with choral evensong at 6.30pm.

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Steve Cunningham