St Bartholomew-the-Great

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The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, sometimes abbreviated to St-Barts-the-Great, is a medieval church in the Church of England's Diocese of London located in Smithfield within the City of London. The building was founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123. It adjoins St Bartholomew's Hospital of the same foundation.<ref>G. Cobb, The Old Churches of London, London: Batsford, 1942.</ref>

St Bartholomew the Great is named to distinguish it from its neighbouring smaller church of St Bartholomew the Less, founded at the same time within the precincts of St Bartholomew's Hospital as a chapel of ease. The two parish churches were reunited in 2012 under the benefice of Great St Bartholomew. Today the buildings house a lively and growing parish with services taking place in both buildings throughout the week.<ref>https://www.greatstbarts.com/</ref>

History

Medieval Priory

Interior facing east: Sanctuary in centre with Sir Robert Chamberlayne's monument (1615) on the left wall, opposite a memorial tablet to Alderman Sir John Percival and Agnes Smallpace<ref>"Farringdon Ward Without", British History online.</ref><ref>"Smallpace memorial St Barts church", imagetourist.com.</ref>

The church was founded in 1123 by Rahere, a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral and an Augustinian canon regular.<ref>"The City of London Churches: monuments of another age" Quantrill, E; Quantrill, M p26: London; Quartet; 1975</ref> While at the Vatican, Rahere dreamed that a winged beast came and transported him to a high place, then relayed a message from "the High Trinity and...the court of Heaven" that he was to erect a church in London's Smithfield.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> Rahere travelled to London and was informed that the area in his vision – then a small cemetery – was royal property, and could not be built upon. Henry I, however, granted title of the land to Rahere upon hearing his divine message.<ref name=":1" />

Rahere started construction on the building with the use of servants and child labourers, who collected stones from all over London.<ref name=":1" />

Arms of the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great

The priory gained a reputation for curative powers, with many sick people filling its aisles, notably on 24 August (St Bartholomew's Day). Many miracles were attributed to occur within and without the walls of the building, including "a light sent from heaven" from its first foundation, and especially miraculous healings; many serious disabilities were claimed to be cured after a visit.<ref name=":1" /> Many of these cures were undertaken at the church hospital, the still existing St Bartholomew's Hospital.<ref name=":1" />

Dissolution

The last Prior was Robert Fuller, the Abbot of Waltham Holy Cross. He was favoured by King Henry VIII, having been invited to attend the christening of Prince Edward, and did not oppose the dissolution of the Priory.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

While much of the hospital survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries, about half of the priory's church was ransacked then demolished in 1543.<ref>The records of St Bartholomew's Priory and St Bartholomew the Great, West Smithfield: volume 2, E. A. Webb, 1921.</ref> Having escaped the Great Fire of London of 1666,<ref>Samuel Pepys, The Shorter Pepys, Robert Latham (ed.), Harmondsworth, 1985, p. 484. Template:ISBN.</ref> the surviving parts of the church fell into disrepair. <ref>T. Tucker, The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches, London: Friends of the City Churches, 2006. Template:ISBN.</ref> During Canon Edwin Savage's tenure as rector, the church was further restored at the cost of more than £60,000.<ref>C. Hibbert, D. Weinreb, J. Keay, The London Encyclopaedia, London: Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev. 1993, 2008). Template:ISBN.</ref> The surviving building had comprised part of a priory adjoining St Bartholomew's Hospital,<ref>N. Pevsner and S. Bradley, London: the City Churches, New Haven: Yale, 1998. Template:ISBN.</ref> but its nave was pulled down up to the last bay although the lofty crossing arches and choir survive largely intact from the Norman<ref>"The City Churches" Tabor, M. p29:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917</ref> and later Middle Ages, enabling its continued use as a parish church.

The church and some of the priory buildings were briefly used as the third Dominican friary (Black Friars) of London, refounded by Queen Mary I of England in 1556 and closed in 1559.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Part of the main entrance to the church remains at West Smithfield, nowadays most easily recognisable by its half-timbered, late 16th-century, Tudor frontage built on the older (13th-century) stone arch. This adaptation may originally have been carried out by the Dominican friars in the 1550s,<ref name=":0" /> or by the post-Reformation patron of the advowson,<ref>www.raheresgarden.org</ref> Lord Rich, Lord Chancellor of England (1547–51).<ref>"Art in Parliament", Parliament of the United Kingdom.</ref> From this gatehouse to the west door of the church, the path leads along roughly where the south aisle of the nave formerly existed.

Later history

In the early 1720s, at the suggestion of Governor of Pennsylvania Sir William Keith Bt, the American polymath and patriot Benjamin Franklin worked as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what is now the Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great.

South aisle, looking east towards the Sanctuary and Lady chapel

The Lady chapel at the east end had been previously used for commercial purposes and it was there that Benjamin Franklin worked for a year as a journeyman printer. The north transept was also formerly used as a blacksmith's forge, then occupied by squatters in the 18th century.

In 1888, new parish school rooms, with basement rooms for youth clubs and a soup kitchen, were built on part of the former burial grounds. The works were funded by in part by the Rector, the Revd Sir Borradaile Savory. The foundation stone was laid on 5 July 1888 by the Duchess of Albany.

Restoration

From 1889,<ref>The Guild of St Bartholomew's Hospital. Template:Webarchive</ref> the church was extensively restored under the direction of architect Sir Aston Webb.This programme of works saw the restoration of the Lady Chapel and fragmentary south transept and a new flint-faced north transept. The scars at the West end where the demolished nave had once joined was given a new flint-faced facade. The restored south transept was opened by Frederick Temple, Bishop of London, on 14 March 1891; and the south transept in February 1893 in the presence of the Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark (Princess of Wales), Edward White Benson (Archbishop of Canterbury) and other dignitaries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Priory Church was one of the few City churches to escape major damage during the Blitz.


North aspect of the Priory Church from Cloth Fair

Charitable distributions in the churchyard on Good Friday continue a tradition established when twenty-one sixpences were placed upon the gravestone of a woman stipulating that the bequest fund an annual distribution to twenty one widows in perpetuity,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with hot cross buns nowadays being given not only to widows but others.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Priory Church was designated a Grade I listed building on 4 January 1950.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref> In April 2007 it became the first Anglican parish church to charge an entrance fee to tourists not attending a worship,<ref> Template:Cite journal </ref>though this was discontinued and the church is open free of charge weekdays.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

United Benefice

For a few years the rector of St Batholomew the Great church was simultaneously priest-in-charge of the nearby St Bartholomew the Less, though the latter retained its own Parochial church council (PCC) and churchwardens. On 1 June 2015 the parishes of both churches were dissolved and replaced with the new united benefice of Great St Bartholomew. The Rector of the former parish of St Bartholomew the Great became Rector of the united benefice and the parish boundary follows precisely those of the two former parishes. A single Parochial Church Council and churchwardens are responsible for both buildings. The parish church is St Bartholomew the Great, while St Bartholomew the Less is a chapel of ease within the parish, the latter bering part of an eucumenical and inter-faith ministry to the patients and staff at the Hospital.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Features

The Clock Tower

The brick clock tower was constructed in the South West corner of the truncated church in 1628.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It has a small timber cupola and houses the earlier ring of pre-Reformation bells that were cast between 1500 and 1514.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rahere Monument

Immediately to the North of the high altar is the monument to founder Rahere. This is in a mixture of the Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic styles. A painted effigy lies on top of the tomb under an elaborate canopy. It is unclear whether it is the resting place of Rahere's remains, or his monument, since it was constructed c.250 years after his death in 1144.

Oriel window

Prior William Bolton's oriel window

The interior Oriel Window was installed in the early 16th century by Prior William Bolton,<ref>Lost City of London website</ref><ref>"William Bolton", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.</ref> allegedly so that he could keep an eye on the monks. The Prior's lodgings were adjacent to the South of the church. The symbol in the centre panel is a crossbow "bolt" passing through a "tun" (or barrel), a rebus or pun on the name of the prior. William Camden wrote:

It may be doubtful whether Bolton, Prior of St Bartholomew, in Smithfield, was wiser when he invented for his name a bird-bolt through his Tun, or when he built him a house upon Harrow Hill, for fear of an inundation after a great conjunction of planets in the watery triplicity

Lady Chapel

Said to be 'newly built' in 1336, this extends to the E of the choir, with a crypt under its E end. The building was in secular use after the Dissolution of the Priory and divided into workshops and houses. Re-acquired by the parish in the late nineteenth century it was restored by Sir Aston Webb to something close to its original appearance, with much original stonework surviving.<ref>Buildings of England: London 1 City of London, ISBN 0-14-071092-2.</ref>

Monastic Buildings

Very little evidence of the monastic buildings now survives above ground. Three bays of the semi-derelict c.15 cloister were restored and extended by a further five bays in replica in the 1920s as a war memorial the new work using the surviving medieval footings. The approximate footprint of the cloister quadrangle was recreated as a grassed area when adjoining buildings were redeveloped in 2019. The approximate extent of the monastic enclosure is defined by the modern street of Bartholomew Close and Cloth Fair.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The principal remaining area of the churchyard is a raised garden on Cloth Fair laid out by the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association's landscape gardener Fanny Wilkinson in 1885.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Associated organisations

St Bartholomew the Great is the adopted guild church of various City livery companies who host services there throughout the year: the Worshipful Company of Butchers (one of the seven oldest livery companies), the Worshipful Company of Founders (whose Hall is beside the church), the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers (incorporated 1448, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies) whose Hall is on the opposite side of West Smithfield, the Worshipful Company of Fletchers, the Worshipful Company of Farriers (incorporated 1674), the Worshipful Company of Farmers (incorporated 1955). More recent companies with a connection to the church are: Worshipful Company of Information Technologists (incorporated 1992), the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers (incorporated 2004), the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers (incorporated 2005), the Company of Public Relations Practitioners (incorporated 2000).

The Priory Church served as the chapel of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor before the establishment of the Society's permanent chapel in St Paul's Cathedral in 2005.<ref>St Paul's Cathedral website</ref>

Film, television, radio & videos

The church was the location for the fourth wedding service in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and of scenes in other films: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Shakespeare in Love, the 1999 film version of Graham Greene's 1951 novel The End of the Affair, Amazing Grace (2006), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Richard II of The Hollow Crown (2012), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Testament of Youth (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and Transformers: The Last Knight (2017). It was also used in Taboo. It was used by T-Mobile as a stand-in for Westminster Abbey in its "royal wedding" advertisement (2011). It has also been the location for six music videos of Libera.<ref>Love and Mercy; Glory to Thee; Sancte (short version); Sanctus and Salva Me - Libera Official, 2011 (YouTube). See also: Gaudete-2008 (solo: Liam Connery). via YouTube, 2009.</ref>

The BBC Radio 3 programme Choral Evensong has been livecast from the church, including a 2023 Evensong service to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the foundation.<ref>BBC Radio 3, Choral Evensong, St Bartholomew-the-Great, London, 22 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.</ref>

Since 2021 the principal church services are simulcast on the parish YouTube channel and remain available online for two months.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rectors

Edward A. Webb's history of St Bartholomew-the-Great provides an account of each rector up to W. F. G. Sandwith.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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Several rectors served as President of Sion College: Thomas Westfield (1631, 1632), Thomas Spateman (1732), Owen Perrot Edwardes (1785), Sir Borradaile Savory (1905).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Music

Organ

The Priory Church's pipe organ (2009)

St Bartholomew the Great had an organ installed by John Knopple in 1715, superseded by an organ in 1731 by Richard Bridge. In 1886, this was replaced by the organ from St Stephen Walbrook re-installed by William Hill. Modifications were made in 1931 by Henry Speechly & Son, in 1957 by N.P. Mander and in 1982–83 by the firm of Peter Wells. Specifications of this organ are detailed on the National Pipe Organ Register.<ref>Template:National Pipe Organ Register</ref> but it is considered unplayable. The church is currently using a Viscount digital organ for services, pending the commissioning of a new instrument.

Choirs

Unusually for a parish church, the Priory Church Choir comprises professional singers, directed by Rupert Gough. A choir of amateur singers, the Rahere Singers, sing for some services.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Organists

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Director of Music

In 2009 the roles of Organist and Director of Music were divided into two posts.

Organist and Director of Music

In 2015 the roles of Organist and Director of Music were recombined.

Sub-organist

  • Ben Horden, January 2016Template:SndMay 2017
  • James Norrey, 2017–present

Notable burials and monuments

Prior Rahere's tomb

Notable people

Folklore

The ghost of Rahere is reputed to haunt the church, following an incident during repair work in the 19th century when the tomb was opened and a sandal removed. The sandal was returned to the church but not Rahere's foot, and Rahere since then, as a "shadowy, cowled figure appears from the gloom, brushes by astonished witnesses and fades slowly into thin air. Rahere is said to appear every year on the morning of July the 1st at 7 am, emerging from the Vestry".<ref name="caspar">Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

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Footnotes

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References

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Further reading

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