ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL & CHURCH

 Actually a part of Farringdon, the St. Bartholomew's complex sits behind Smithfield Market. It Comprises St. Bartholomew's Hospital, the church of St Bartholomew the Great, and St. Bartholomew's Gatehouse.

St. Bartholomew the Great Priory church

There are very few historic places in London where the early medieval period is so beautifully preserved as at St Bartholomew the Great, even entry to the church is through a 13th century arch with a half timbered gatehouse.  

The Priory, church and hospital were all founded in the 12th. Century by Rahere when a son of William the Conqueror, Henry I was king. There is little known about him, other than his family were poor, but he was intelligent and ambitious, with rich and powerful friends.

He was reputedly cheerful and loving, and he soon became the King's Minstrel or Jester, which was an influential position. However the whole Royal Household was thrown into grief and gloom in Novermber 1120, when the White Ship, bearing the King's heir and a number of his friends, was lost at sea during a terrible storm.

Rahere decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, to pray for his sins to be pardoned. But he fell dangerously ill with malaria, and was nursed by Brothers of the Order of St. John of God. Rahere avowed that if he should recover and return to his own country, he would erect a hospital for the restoration of poor men.

He recovered, and set off home, but on the way, he had a vision of being rescued by St. Bartholomew from a huge beast. In return, he promised the saint to also build a church in the saint's name. And so he arrived back in London with a mission to build a hospital and a church.

He obtained permission from King Henry to build his priory and hospital on the king's market land, just outside the city walls in 1122. But only the eastern end of the church had been built by the time Rahere died in 1145, and this is where he is buried.

The tomb was redesigned later in the 'Gothic' style, and that is what we see today.

Building of the church, hospital and priory continued after Rahere's death. Prior Thomas had started building the nave in 1174, but there was a pause in construction (presumably due to a shortage of funds), and when building resumed in about 1230, the style of church buildings had changed dramatically. These changes show vividly all around the church.

The Cloisters. It used to be a cafe, but no longer. However, the tables are stll laid out for peole to eat their packed lunches. etc.  There was a young man playing the piano this day - and very good he was too!

Plaque in the cloister of St Bartholomew-the-Great, London, marking the opening of five new bays by Viscountess Lascelles in 1928. It depicts the arms of the Viscount and Viscountess, along with Viscount Lascelles' motto, Ung roy, ung foy, ung loy — from his de Burgh ancestors, "one king, one faith, one law."

This is HRH Pricess Mary, with her husband Viscount Lascelles. They didn't seem to make too much of an impression of the public.

She was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, the sister of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and aunt of Elizabeth II. In the First World War, she performed charity work in support of servicemen and their families. She married Henry Lascelles, Viscount Lascelles (later the 6th Earl of Harewood), in 1922. Mary was given the title of Princess Royal in 1932. During the Second World War, she was Controller Commandant of the Auxiliary Territorial Service. The Princess Royal and the Earl of Harewood had two sons, George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, and Gerald David Lascelles.

William Bolton became prior in 1505. He was formerly employed  by the Monarchy as Clerk of the Works of Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London, amongst others. He built a new prior's lodging at the east end of the church with a gallery leading to his private chapel, where he installed an oriole window to give him an unobstructed view of what was happening down below in the church. It has a rebus of him name carved into it, as a tun (barrel) shot through with a cross bow bolt.

The priory was dissolved in 1539 and the nave of the church was demolished. Under Queen Mary, there was briefly a house of Dominican friars here, before it reverted to being a parish church under Queen Elizabeth I. Various parts of the building were damaged or destroyed through the centuries until restoration began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century.

Parts of the lady chapel were incorporated into a later private house, and the south door of the nave lives on in the grand entrance gateway to the churchyard area. Parts of the cloister can still be seen. The striking brick tower was added in 1638 to create a more impressive entrance facade.

Since the nave and transepts were pulled down at the Reformation, the interior is a rather peculiar mix of Norman work at the east end and post-Reformation architecture and fittings at the west end. One very unusual feature is a large oriel window projecting over the chancel from the triforium level.

When I visited, it was during Lent, and all the altar crosses were covered. Covering crosses and images with veils (typically purple) during Lent, especially during Passiontide (the last two weeks of Lent), is a long-standing tradition in many Christian denominations, including Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism. This practice, also known as "Lenten shrouds," serves as a visual reminder of the season's focus on Christ's Passion and suffering.

Crosses are unveiled following the Good Friday Liturgy, while images are unveiled before the beginning of the Easter Vigil.

This is the war memorial to the members of the City of London Yeomanry, who lost their lives during World War I. The Regiment, known as the 'Rough Riders', was formed in 1900 for the Second Boer War and later served in the First World War. The yeomanry regiment's nickname was derived from the American cavalry regiment of the same name, commanded by Theodore Roosevelt. 

There are many wall memorials in the church to rich and influential people. Unfortunately, some were.  impossible to photograph. I've done my best, and I will annotate them, when I know a little bit more about the people they commemorate.

Charlotte Hart, former Sextoness of the church, qho lwft a large sum for the supply of a pilpit and restoration of the church.

Above the plaque to Charlotte, is a stone memorial to her grand-parents, which reads: 

"In memory of 

Mrs. Mary Wheeler

Died October 31st 1844
and of
Mr. Daniel Wheeler
Died 17th July 1834
Aged 84 years
65 years of this parish
this stone is inscribed by
their granddaughter Charlotte Hart, 1866."

The Boer War Memorial

William Philips Taylor, of Worcester College, Oxford, who died age 22. 

Ellis Yonge, who worked in the Exchequer

Monument to James Rivers, who died in 1641. He was great-grandson to Sir John Rivers, Lord Mayor of London in 1573. The monument consists of a half-length figure, holding a book in one hand and an hourglass in the other, and covered with a canopy supported by pillars, and ornamented with the arms of the deceased. It is probably the work of Hubert Le Sœur, the sculptor of the statue of Charles I. at Charing Cross. Le Sœur was a French artist, who was settled in England as early as 1630. He lived close by in Bartholomew Close, and is believed to have been buried in the church.

As you can see, this is Sir Walter Mildmay and his wife's tomb. It is made of different coloured Italian marbles. Sir Walter was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 16th. Century, a Privy Councillor, and founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College subscribed literally to the restoration fund of St. Bartholomew's, as a tribute of respect to the memory of their illustrious founder.

Sir Robert Chamberlayne, clothed in his armour, and in an attitude of prayer. Above his head is a canopy supported by four angels, and surmounted by his arms and crest. We learn from a long Latin inscription that this knight was a great traveller, who had visited the Holy Land, and that he perished between Tripoli and Cyprus, in the year 1615, at the age of thirty-five. His memorial, which was composed of white alabaster, is finely executed, but it has been painted black

Helen Mary Ballard, who died of her wounds at sea during World War II

When it comes to celebrity, St. Bartholomew's saw the baptisms of William Hogarth and Inigo Jones.

In the early 18th. Century, the Lady Chapel was used as a print shop by one Samuel Palmer, who had as a journeyman, a young Benjamin Franklin. He went on to be one of the five who drafted the American Declaration of Independence, and thus became one of the Founding Fathers of the American Republic.

John Wesley, who was a schoolboy at nearby Charterhouse School, preached at the church several times.

And there's more...............

The infoboard below explains Harrison's  thoughts on the Crucufixion. OK, so his style doesn't impress some people, but I like it.

An old carved oak bench

The lectern

Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles. He is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia where tradition states that he was later flayed alive and crucified head down. There are numerous reliquaries in the museums and churches of Europe said to contain some portion of his body.

'Exquisite Pain' by Damien Hirst. I don't usually care for much of his work. but this is excellent. It depicts St. Bartholomew, who was flayed alive, with his skin draped over his arm.

The churchyard contains no tombs of particular interest, but every Good Friday it is the scene of a curious ceremony. After a sermon by the rector twenty-one sixpences are dropped, which are thereupon picked up by an equal number of previously selected women. In the choice of recipients for this bounty the preference is accorded to widows. The origin of the custom and the date at which it first commenced are not certainly known. 

It is said that the twenty-one sixpences were originally derived from a fund left by a lady buried in the nave to pay for masses for her soul, which after the establishment of Protestantism was diverted to this charitable use. This story is not in itself improbable, but the whole matter appears to be involved in obscurity. 

It is, at all events, certain that the fund, whatever it may have been, has long since disappeared; and the twenty-one sixpences were provided by the churchwardens until a few years ago, when a sum, from the interest of which they are now obtained, was invested by the Rev. J. W. Butterworth.

The church is closely linked to 8 livery companies of London. Several of the companies are fairly modern (the Information Technologists Company, the Tax Advisors' Company, the Guild of Public Relations Practitioners, and the Hackney Carriage Drivers' Company), but several have a history going back to the early Middle Ages (the Butchers' Company, Founders' Company, Fletchers' Company, and the Haberdashers' Company).

Great St Barts has been used as a setting for quite a large number of films and television productions over the years, from Kevin Costner's Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, to Shakespeare in Love, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Snow White and Huntsman, to name just a few.

St. Bartholomew Gatehouse

St. Bartholomew's gatehouse stands between Cloth Fair (a narrow lane that leads to the church) and St. Bartholomew's Hospital It is currently going through a bit of a wash and brush up! It is the main entrance to the church grounds. There is a small war memorial on the right-hand wall at the front. Unfortunately, I didn't want to interrupt the workmen who were doing such sterling work, so I left it for now.

Like many other European cities, London has suffered multiple calamities that have destroyed many of its buildings over the centuries. In particular, the Great Fire of 1666 razed many of London’s Tudor and medieval buildings, and bombings during World War I and II caused further damage to the cityscape. Hence, finding any building in London dating back to before 1666 is exceptional.

The gatehouse for St. Bartholomew’s-the-Great is one of these rare buildings. The gatehouse, consisting of a two-story timber frame building above a 13th-century stone arch, was built in 1595 by a resident named William Scudamore. The gatehouse once stood at the entrance of a church known as St Bartholomew-the-Great, founded in 1123. The church stood for centuries unchanged until the dissolution of the monasteries during the early 16th century when much of the original building was destroyed.

The gatehouse was almost destroyed during the Great Fire of 1666. However, the building was protected by the walls of an adjacent priory. Later, during the 18th century, someone built a Georgian façade over the gatehouse, and the building was then used as a shop. This façade might have protected the Tudor building when, in 1916, a bomb from a German Zeppelin exploded in front of the building, damaging the Georgian shopfront and revealing the original Tudor structure behind it.

Once people could see the original wood-framed building, they knew it was special. Following WWI, the building underwent extensive restoration work that was completed in 1932. Today, the gatehouse is a Grade-II listed building, recognized by London historians and tour guides as one of London’s notable survivors from the Tudor era.

The rear of the Gatehouse

St. Bartholomew Hospital

Just as a note, the main body of the hospital is usually accessed by an entrance below a statue of Henry VIII, but that too, is currently under restoration. Go through this entrance and the Church of St. Bartholomew the Less in on the left. This is the hospital chapel. The museum is to the right.

However, there are other monuments along the front. So.....

This one is to Wat Tyler and John Ball, and the Great Peasants' rebellion of 1381.

The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The revolt heavily influenced the course of the Hundred Years' War, by deterring later Parliaments from raising additional taxes to pay for military campaigns in France.

It has been described as "the largest popular uprising in English history. It was the result of a series of inept short-term political decisions - military failures, financial corruption and the imposition of a third poll tax in four years - but it became a national emergency because of the extent to which government now intruded into its subjects' lives."

It was once seen as a defining moment in English history, in particular causing a promise by King Richard II to abolish serfdom, and a suspicion of Lollardy.

The revolt has been widely used in socialist literature, including by the author William Morris, and remains a potent symbol for the political left, informing the arguments surrounding the introduction of the Community Charge in the United Kingdom during the 1980s.

John Bradford,  Prebendary of St. Paul’s and Chaplain to Bishop Ridley, Protestant martyr, burned at the stake in Smithfield in London on 1st July 1555 at the age of 45.

Bradford became at a later period in his life a servant to Sir John Harrington, of Exton in Rutlandshire, who experienced Bradford’s ability as a writer and as an auditor. He was faithful and trustworthy not only in those affairs but in many other aspects of his employer’s private business. Harrington trusted Bradford and at the siege of Montreuil in 1544, Bradford occupied the office of paymaster under Sir John Harrington.

Three years later, not long after the accession of Edward VI, on 8th April 1547, Bradford entered the Inner Temple as a student of common law, where his character underwent a complete change. The King appointed him to be one of the six royal chaplains who were sent about England, with a kind of roving commission to preach upon the doctrines of the Reformation.

The consequence of Bradford’s zeal for the principal of the Reformation was that upon the death of Edward VI and within a month of the accession of Queen Mary he was put into prison, like Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer and Hooper, and never left it until he was burned.

The memorial that will resonate with most people is that to 'Braveheart' Sir William Wallace, , who was executed nearby on August 23, 1305. Wallace was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, most famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film “Braveheart.”

Wallace was tried in Westminster Hall (there, another memorial commemorates where he stood during the brief trial). He was charged with treason, to which he responded that he could not be guilty, for he had never sworn fealty to Edward I. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to the traitor's death, one of the most vicious punishments devised during the medieval era.

Wallace was taken to the Tower of London where he was stripped naked, and dragged behind horses to the elms (a medieval term for a scaffold) at Smithfield. He was first hung by the neck, and then cut down whilst still alive. He was then eviscerated and castrated, and eventually beheaded. His body was cut into four parts, and his limbs sent to the corners of Scotland as a warning to the rebellious country. His head was set on London Bridge, where it was soon joined by other Scottish rebels.

Legend has it that Wallace remained silent and stoic throughout the ordeal. The church of St. Bartholomew stands close to the execution grounds. It is not impossible to imagine that the deeply religious Wallace may have fixed his eyes on it before departing this world.