A nice tree-framed view of this church may be had from the garden at the east end of St Paul’s. It was first mentioned in 1170, and Wren’s church dates from 1695–1700. This building was burnt out in December 1940 and restored in 1962. Foster Lane, the little street on which the building stands and which identifies it, has a curious etymology growing out of the original name of the church, ‘St Vedastalias- Foster’. This name indicates that ‘Foster’ is actually the English equivalent of ‘Vedast’, which came about as follows: Vedast to Vaast, then Vastes, Fastre, Fauster and finally Foster.
The Great Fire left the walls of the old church standing, and Wren incorporated these into the present building. His simple yet elegant steeple, the vertical lines of which pleasantly contrast with the nearby dome of St Paul’s, fortunately escaped the bombing. The plain rectangular interior is enlivened by a flat ceiling richly decorated with gold and silver paint in wreaths and rectangles. Some fine furnishings, all of which came from other churches, include an eighteenth-century organ cover, a fine octagonal pulpit, a carved wooden font and cover, and an attractive altarpiece and altar table. The modern stained glass in the east window features scenes from the life of St Vedast.