St Dunstan-in-the-West
186A Fleet Street
London
EC4A 2HR
T: 020 7405 1929
W: www.stdunstaninthewest.org/
Visitor Information
11am–3pm Tue (12.30pm lunchtime Eucharist)
1pm–2pm Wed (lunchtime concerts in term time)
5pm–7pm Fri (Orthodox vespers)
1pm–6pm Sat
8am–3pm Sun (Orthodox Liturgy)
The Original Church
The original St. Dunstan-in-the-West stood on the same site as today, spilling in the past onto what is now the tarmac of Fleet Street. It is not known exactly when the original church was built, but it was between 988 and 1070 A.D. It is not impossible that Saint Dunstan himself, or priests who knew him well, decreed that a church was needed here.
The Church narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London in 1666. The quick thinking of the Dean of Westminster saved the church: he roused forty scholars from Westminster School in the middle of the night, who extinguished the flames with buckets of water. The flames came within three doors of St. Dunstan's.
The Church is Rebuilt
The wear and tear of time took its toll, however, and St. Dunstan's was rebuilt in 1831. The architect, John Shaw, died in 1832, leaving his son, who bore the same name, to complete the task.
The tower was badly damaged by German bombers in 1944, and was rebuilt in 1950 through the generosity of newspaper magnate Viscount Camrose. In 1952, St. Dunstan-in-the-West became a Guild Church, dedicating its ministry to the daytime working population around Fleet Street.