St. Bartholomew the Great church

St. Bartholomew was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, who is said to have been martyred in Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) while on a missionary journey. The current church of St. Bartholomew the Great at Smithfield, as well as the adjacent St. Bartholomew’s hospital – Bart’s – can trace their history back to the early 12^th century when they were founded as an Augustinian priory.

At that time the area of Smithfield lay outside of London’s city walls. The name probably evolved from the Saxon ‘smeth’, meaning ‘smooth’ and during medieval times it was the place for London’s festivities such as sports, fairs and executions. Jousting tournaments were held there, which were both spectacular and important diplomatic occasions. From the 10^th century it was also where livestock was bought and sold. In 1174 William FitzStephen described Smithfield as a smooth field where horses, pheasants, pigs, cows and oxen were sold. Each Friday a horse fair was held, attracting wealthier citizens, with horse races to demonstrate the quality of the animals.

There was a jester or minstrel to Henry I by the name of Rahere, of perhaps German origin, who described himself as a hanger-on or parasite to the royal court. While on a pilgrimage to Rome, in or around 1123, he contracted malaria. He vowed that he would build a hospital for the poor in London if he survived. On his journey home he had a dream in which he was saved from a winged monster by St. Bartholomew and instructed to build a priory at a place “in the suburb of London at Smithfield”. The particular spot was a cemetery at the time that was muddy and liable to flooding and used for executions.

Following an audience with Rahere, King Henry granted a charter to the Austin Canons, with title to the place at Smithfield, and Rahere as its first prior. Rahere recruited together “bands of children and servants” to collect stones from around London from which the priory was built. He was no doubt also supported financially by the King and other wealthy citizens, amongst whom we know of Aelfwine, the founder of the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. Many came to join Rahere within the order as canons regular, which were then a form of monk that carried out social work within the community. Work to build the priory and hospital began in March 1123, although only partially complete at the time of Rahere’s death in 1143. Rahere’s tomb remains in the church. Construction continued under Rahere’s successor, Prior Thomas.

There was an incident in 1250 when the Archbishop of Canterbury visited. According to the chronicler Matthew Paris a fight broke out when his right to do so was challenged. The Archbishop struck the elderly Sub-Prior, who was severely injured, and excommunicated a number of canons.

St. Bartholomew the Great stands on the east side of Smithfield, as shown in Civitas Londinum (the ‘Agas map’) from about 1561.

St. Bartholomew’s grew to become one of the largest churches in London, with a length of about one hundred metres. To help fund the priory Rahere created a fair, held on St. Bartholomew’s Day in the churchyard, and it grew into a leading cloth market. During the medieval and Tudor periods, the Cloth Fair each August evolved beyond its original roots and was by Stuart times one of the major events in London’s annual calendar. By then it was primarily a place of entertainment, with many stalls and attractions including exhibitions of freaks, jousts, football matches, puppet shows, street performers, food and drink. During the Victorian era Bartholomew’s Fair had gone out of favour and in 1855 it came to an end.

From its foundation, the canons of St. Barthlomew operated a hospice and an almshouse caring for the sick, elderly, orphans, abandoned children and the homeless. A Foundation Book, written in the early years of the institution talks of many miracles occurring, with sick patients being cured after praying to St. Bartholomew.

During the 12th century canons throughout Europe became more insular and at St. Bartholomew’s the monastery and hospital were gradually separated. Thomas, the second prior, appointed the layman Adam the Merchant as Warden of the Hospital in the second half of the century.

By the late 14th century the scholar John of Mirfield was studying illnesses at St. Bartholomew’s and applying his knowledge to relieve the patients. In around 1390 he compiled a large medical compendium known as Breviarium Bartholomei detailing the many illnesses, diseases and medical conditions he had observed. By the 14th century a maternity ward was operating and by the mid-16th century there were a total of around fifty beds for patients.

The monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, and given to Sir Richard Rich who demolished the monastic buildings and took up residence in the Prior’s House. The local parishioners took over the church, which was reduced in size to just that of the choir and transepts and the 12^th century cloister. The 13^th century gateway across the churchyard was once the front door of the nave, and the nave became the parish churchyard. When the bell-tower was demolished, its six bells were sold to the nearby Holy Sepulchre church.

The hospital remained in a reduced form and five years later was re-founded by Henry to administer to the poor. The monastery was briefly restored in 1555 as a Dominican convent during the reign of Queen Mary but dissolved again under Elizabeth I.

The Great Fire of London was extinguished before reaching St. Bartholomew’s, but over the centuries the fabric of the church deteriorated. In 1628 the tower in the south-west was rebuilt in red brick.

Parts of the building have been used for commercial and residential purposes and as a school. The cloister has been used as stables and the north transept as a blacksmith’s forge. The Lady Chapel was used as a print shop in the 18^th century, where Benjamin Franklin, who would become an American statesman, was employed. In 1697 the artist William Hogarth was christened at St. Bartholomew’s.

There was much restoration carried out in the 1860s, and in the 1890s by the architect Aston Webb, returning St. Bartholomew’s to its former grandeur. A porch and west front were added in flint and Portland stone.

St. Bartholomew’s survived the Blitz, and thus much of the medieval church remains. The peal of five bells, each named after a saint, are the oldest in London and Barts Hospital is the oldest hospital in London. Although much smaller than the original priory church, the crossing and chancel are preserved, including its round arches and other Norman details. It continues as a parish church, incorporating the former parishes of St. Bartholomew the Less and St. Botolph Aldersgate.

St. Bartholomew’s has been used in various films, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and The Other Boleyn Girl.