9 Secrets Of St Bartholomew The Great Church

St Bartholomew the Great, London’s oldest parish church, is hands down one my favourite historical spots in London. The history here is palpable.

I was lucky enough to be shown round by Marcus Walker, the rector and so in this post are my favourite stories and secrets of the church.  But first, a quick introduction to its history.

Introduction

The church and St Bartholomew’s hospital (or St Bart’s as it is better known) next door were founded in 1123 as an Augustinian Priory.

It would have once extended right out to where the beautiful Tudor gatehouse sits.

The gatehouse dates from around 1595 and sits on top of a 13th century archway. This archway was once the southern entrance to the nave before much of the priory was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII in the 16th century.

The facade of the gatehouse itself was actually covered up in the 18th century and the Tudor delight beneath only revealed by damage caused by a World War One zeppelin bomb. 

Now let’s head inside.

1. Architectural Confusion

The first thing to spot is the unusual architecture. Construction initially began in a Romanesque style of architecture, brought over by the Normans, characterised by rounded arches and big chunky columns. However during the build, the Gothic style was becoming the go-to design. They were a relatively poor parish so could not afford to just start again and so the rest of the church (the southern end) was finished in the Gothic style.

Below you can see a Romanesque column next to the much thinner Gothic column. Pointed Gothic arches meant that a lot more weight could be supported and columns did not have be so wide. You will see a mixture of pointed and rounded arches in the church.

2. Prior Rahere’s Missing Foot

Look out for the tomb of the founder: Prior Rahere. His body was moved here in 1405 and the tomb constructed.

Rahere was a courtier to King Henry I. The story goes that he went on pilgrimage to Rome where he fell ill and had a vision of St Bartholomew instructing him to establish a priory and hospital in London upon his recovery and return to Britain.

Go around the back of the tomb and you will notice that the stones at one end are all jumbled up.

This is because during 19th century restoration work, workers removed the stones to check which way round he was facing to confirm his head was pointing Westwards as is tradition for priests. It was confirmed that he was facing the right way, however, in the process, a worker stole Rahere’s foot and sandal! The sandal was recovered but the foot never was and Rahere’s ghost apparently rises once a year on the 1st July at 7am to hobble about looking for his lost foot. 

3. The Weeping Monument

On the wall of the South aisle you will find the memorial to Edward Cooke, a philosopher and ‘medicine man’ who died in 1652. 

Up until the Victorian restoration of the church it was known as the ‘weeping monument’ as, due to the porous nature of the bust, it would appear to weep from condensation. The introduction of heating by the Victorians put a stop to that particular phenomenon. Under the bust however there is still a plaque that talks of the ‘briny floods’.

4. The Only Place Visited By Both The Virgin Mary And Benjamin Franklin

Right at the back of the church you will find the Lady Chapel. This is the only place in London that the Virgin Mary has apparently made a visitation. She appeared to a monk here in the late 12th century.

But fast forward to the early 18th century and the Lady Chapel was actually being used as printers and a young Benjamin Franklin, future signatory of the American Declaration of Independence, was working here as a typesetter. 

In the North Transept of the church you may also notice some blackened stonework. This is from an ironmonger’s workshop that was also based here in the 18th century. I am not sure how a church operated with all that noise going on but there we go!

5. Prior Bolton’s Sneaky Oriel Window

One of my favourite little details is the oriel window. It was installed in the early 1500’s by Prior Bolton. He allegedly had it installed to spy/check up on on his monks below. 

You will notice the symbol of a barrel or ‘ton’ with a bolt through it on the front. Those together make ‘Bolton’.

6. The Rare Font

Look out for the font that dates from 1405 and is apparently one of only two pre-Reformation fonts in London (I am now on the hunt for the other one). It was here on 28th November 1697 that the artist William Hogarth was baptised. 

7. Leftover Film Set

The church, as you can imagine, is a popular filming destination. It was most famously used in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The covering behind the table here, made to look like stone, is apparently a bit of film set that got left and actually looked quite good so they kept it! 

8. Eyecatching Modern Art

St Bartholomew’s also has a few pieces of amazing modern art. Most notably, as you enter, you will come face to face with Damien Hirst’s ‘Exquisite Pain’, created in 2006.

It depicts St Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who met his end by being skinned alive. He is depicted with muscles exposed, his skin draped over his arm and holding the tool used for the job. 

9. The Out-Of-Bounds Triforium

One final little secret that unfortunately is not open to the public, but I was lucky enough to be shown, is the south triforium: the area that looks down into the central part of the church. 

It was accessed by an extremely narrow spiral staircase and is currently used for the storage of stonework, some of it possibly dating as far back as the 12th century. 

This is the back of Prior Bolton’s window and this area would have been part of the Prior’s lodgings.

Visiting St Bartholomew The Great

St Bartholomew the Great should be right up there as a destination for visitors to the city who want to get in touch with London’s history and of course for Londoners as well. 

It is open 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday and 1pm-5pm on Sundays. It is free but donations, however small, are always appreciated to help maintain this unique, historic building. 

See their website here for more details about visiting.

Thank you for reading, find more of London’s hidden history below…