Queen’s visit seals 650 years of the Guild of St Bride

This week Her Majesty the Queen attended a special service at St Bride’s Church to mark the 650th anniversary of the Guild of St Bride.

As patron of the Guild, the Queen has been a steadfast supporter of its work in the parish, the City of London and the wider journalistic community which the church serves. She was welcomed back to St Bride’s by the Rector, the Revd Canon Dr Alison Joyce, and the Master of the Guild, Lord Black of Brentwood.

The Guild received its royal confirmation from Edward III in 1375. Its long and distinguished history reflects St Bride’s enduring role at the heart of its community, serving a society that has changed dramatically since its constitution.

In her address, the Rector described the Guild’s origins in a turbulent medieval London shaped by famine, unrest and the recent devastation of the Black Death.

Parish guilds, she explained, enabled ordinary people to secure burial rites they could not otherwise afford. Members of the Guild of St Bride paid for a light to burn before the statue of St Brigid, symbolising the light of Christ, and for a priest to say masses – establishing a central lay role in our worship that endures today.

With the rise of printing around St Bride’s in the 1500s, the church became closely tied to the emerging newspaper industry, establishing a ministry to journalism that now reaches a global audience, serving journalists of all faiths and none.

During the service Abigail Attwell, Head Girl of King Edward’s School Witley with which St Bride’s has a long-standing connection, read from Colossians; and Lord Black read from Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England, capturing the colour and chaos of fourteenth‑century London.

Music at the service reflected the Guild’s long history and its continuing support of music-making at St Bride’s.

St Bride’s Choir, directed by Robert Jones, opened with one of the earliest surviving examples of polyphonic music written in England – Salve sancta parens – an anonymous composition from the same time as the Guild’s establishment.

As well as the celebratory Jubilate Deo setting by William Walton, the choir also sang the anthem Hosanna to the Son of David by Thomas Weelkes, who is buried in the crypt of St Bride’s.

The final choir anthem, A voice of our age, was specially commissioned by the Guild to mark their anniversary from composer and soprano, Helen Neeves, a former member of the choir who now sings with the BBC Singers. It honours our inspirational matron saint, Brigid of Kildare.

The service concluded with our organist Matthew Morley playing the voluntary Flame of Kildare by Isabelle Ryder, commissioned to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the admission of women to the Guild.

After the service, the Queen met journalists whose postgraduate studies at City St George’s, University of London, were supported by the Guild’s journalism bursary scheme, which was established in 2012.

Sixteen students have since received awards of up to £4,200, many now working for major news organisations, including in overseas roles.

After the service, Guild members – having renewed their vows then hung up their formal russet gowns — joined senior media figures at a reception in the Humble Grape.

The Guild’s active fellowship continues to enrich the worship at St Bride’s, ensuring that its ancient calling endures and flourishes into the future.

Written by Simon Greaves, a member of the Guild’s Court and a Financial Times/FT.com journalist

Photo Credit: Ian Bozic