St Benet Paul's Wharf

For more than 1,400 years, a cathedral dedicated to St Paul has stood at the highest point in the city.

One of the most striking aspects about St Martin within Ludgate's exterior is its tall, sharp leaded spire, which when seen from the lower part of Fleet Street, is a deliberate foil to the massive rounded dome of St Paul's Cathedral beyond.

The name of the church is derived from the word 'hythe', a Saxon word for a landing place or jetty. The stretch of river close by St James' was London's most important hythe since Saxon, or possibly Roman, times. Garlic, a vital preservative and medicine in the Middle Ages, was unloaded here and probably traded on Garlick Hill, where the church now stands.