St. Bartholomew the Great

St. Bartholomew the Great

On the north side of Bartholomew Close, West Smithfield (P.O. Directory). In Farringdon Ward Without.

"Sanctus Bartholomoeus Magnus de Smethefelde," 31 Ed. I. (Lib. Cust. I. 228). Sometimes called "St. Bartholomew without Aldersgate," 1407 (Ct. H.W. II. 374).

Originally the church of St. Bartholomew's Priory, West Smithfield, a portion of it was, at the Dissolution, reconstructed for a parish church to remain and be called the parish church of St. Bartholomew the Great in Westsmythfelde, and John Dean the curate was appointed the first Rector, 36 H. VIII. 1544 (L. and P. H. VIII. XIX. (i), p. 377).

In 1547 the church and hospital, etc., were granted to the Mayor and citizens (ib. XXI (2), p. 414).

The church is of Norman work, and has in parts been well preserved and restored. It consists of the choir and transepts of the monastic church, the nave having been destroyed at the Dissolution in 1539. The only portion remaining of the west facade is the gateway out of West Smithfield, giving entrance to the church. This is early 13th-century work.

The choir is Norman, commenced 1123, the clerestory Early English. The Lady Chapel 15th-century work. The church was restored in 1863–6 and again in 1885–88, when the Lady Chapel, which had been used as a fringe factory, was restored and reopened for use. One or two bays of the cloisters remain on the south side of the church. The nave extended into Smithfield. The tomb of the founder Rahere is a good specimen of Perpendicular work, but of much later date than his decease.

The exterior of the church has undergone considerable alteration, as in old days it had a central tower and two turrets (Moore, 21).

The central tower was removed and the present tower built in 1628, the porch at the west end new built 1620.

There is an interesting account of the existing church and excavations in L. and M. Arch. Soc. Trans. N.S. II. Pt. 2, pp. 212 et seq.

A Rectory. Patrons: in private hands.

See St. Bartholomew's Priory.

The parish comprises the site of the ancient priory and its precinct. It is interesting to note that having been at one time a monastic enclosure, there is no great thoroughfare running through the parish and several of the smaller passages were in former times closed by gates.

The origin of the foundation is set out in the monastic chartulary and is ascribed to a vision granted to Rahere the founder, in which St. Bartholomew appeared to rescue him from a winged monster, who in his dream had seized him and was about to destroy him, after which St. Bartholomew directed him to found a church in his honour in Smithfield (Cott. MS. Vesp. B. ix.).

St. Bartholomew's the Great.

Is situated on the NE side of W. Smithfield, near the end of Duck lane, in the Ward of Farrendon without; i.e. without the Walls of London, but is within the Liberty or Freedom thereof.

II. It was a Priory founded by one Rahere, a pleasant witted Gentleman (says Mr. Stow) about the Year of Christ 1102. who placed Canons there, and "himself became their first Prior, which he continued to his Death, and was buried there (of whose Monument I shall speak a little farther.) This Priory was again new built in the Year 1410. Prior Bolton (from which Name 'tis likely came the Sign of the Bolt and Tun, that being carved on the S. side of this Church) was the last Prior, and the Priory was surrender'd in the 30th of Hen. 8. valued at 653 l. 15 s. per Annum, the 6 Bells were taken out of the Church, and sold to the Parish of St. Sepulchres; and the Church being demolished to the Choir, that was by the King's Order annex'd to the old Parish Church to enlarge the same, and so was used till the Reign of Queen Mary , who gave the remainder of the Priory-church to the Black Friars, and it was used as their Conventual Church until the 1st of Queen Elizabeth, when those Friars were expell'd, and all the said Church, with the old Parish-church, was in the last of Edward the 6th, which was in the Year of Christ 1553. given by Parliament to remain for ever a Parish-church, called Great St. Bartholomews, being at the first dedicated to that Apostle, as is said of the last mentioned Church of St. Bartholomew the Little.

Mr. Weever says, this Prior Bolton, after he had built the Mannor-House of Cambury, near Islington, died at his Parsonage-house near Harrow on the hill; and the Pourtraictures of him, and his Brethren, were upon a Table sometime hanging in this Church, afterward in Sir Robert Cotton's Library holding up their hands towards a Crucifix, under whom was depensil'd

Gulielmo Bolton precibus succurrite vestris
Qualis erat Pater hic, Domus hæc cætera monstrant.

III. The Church is a spacious pleasant old Building, of the Gothick and Tuscan Orders, with a strong Timber-roof; the Walls of the Church are of Boulder, Stone, and Brick, and the Steeple of Brick, with Battlements.

It had the good Fortune to escape the terrible Fire in 1666. and was new beautified in the Year 1696.

…

The Vestry is Select of about 22, and the Parish Officers are,

2 Church Wardens.

2 Collectors for the Poor,

2 Sidesmen.

Ward Officers.

3 Constables

3 Scavengers.

VIII. The Content of the Parish as as follows.

Beginning at the Green Dragon, the S. side of Long lane it extends Wd to Smithfield, and thence Sd to the Church Gate; all Cloth fair both sides the way with the Courts and Yards; also Back str. Middle str. New str. NE. side of Duck lane to the Gate into Bartholomew close; also Middlesex court, Cumberland court and Parkers yard, likewise Halfmoon alley with part of the Tavern, containing in all about 300 Houses.

[St. Bartholomew the Great.] This Church, having in the Bell Tower, six Bells in a Tune, were sold to the Parish of St. Sepulchres; and then the Church being pulled down to the Quire, the Quire was, by the King's Order annexed, for the inlarging of the old Parish Church thereto adjoining; and so was used till the Reign of Queen Mary, who gave it to the Friers Preachers, or Black Friers, and was used as their Coventual Church, until the 1st of our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth. Those Friers were once more put out, and then all the said Church, was wholly as it stood, in the last Year of Edward VI. given by Parliament, to remain for ever a Parish Church to the Inhabitants within the Close, called Great St. Bartholomews. Since the which time, that old Church is pulled down, except the Steeple of rotten Timber, ready to fall of it self. I have oft heard it reported, that a new Steeple should be builded with the Stone, Lead and Timber, of the old Parish Church, but no such Thing was performed. For it is more easy to pull it down, than to set it up and build. The Parish have lately repaired the old Wooden Steeple, to serve their Turn.	St. Bartholomew the Great The Bells. The Black Friers placed at St. Bartholomew's.
From the Year of our Lord, 1622. to 1633. there hath not been a Year, wherein there hath been a great deal of Money expended in one part of the Church or other. In the Year 1620. the Porch at the West end of the Church was new built; which, in the Year 1632. was repaired and beautified. In the Year 1622. the Inside of the Church was new painted. In the Year 1624. the Gallery at the lower end of the Church was rebuilded, and very much inlarged. In the Years 1625, and 1626. great Cost was bestowed in Lead, and in the Plumbers Labour. In the Year 1628. the Steeple, being formerly part of Stone, and part of Timber, the upper part especially Timber, being all ruined and decayed, was pulled down to the very Foundation; and a new one rebuilded of Brick and Freestone, and very richly and fairly finished. Also the East Ile, and some other Parts very defective, were Repaired and Beautified at the Cost and Charges of the Parishioners. The Charge of this Year, 1633. amounting to 698l. and upwards.	Repaired. R.
Churchwardens.] Richard Glover, Richard Toppin.

St. Bartholomew the Great, situated near the east end of Duck lane, on the north east side of Smithfield, escaped the flames in 1666, and is a large plain church, with a tower crowned with a turret. It is a rectory in the patronage of the Earl of Holland. The Rector's profits, besides casualties, amount to about 60l. per annum.

Bartholomew the Great Church, Bartholomew-Close, West-Smithfield, nine doors on the R. in Cloth-fair from 60, West-Smithfield.

St. Bartholomew the Great, the church of, is situated on the north-east side of Smithfield, and at the north end of Duke-street. It escaped the fire in 1666, and is a large plain church of Saxon and Norman architecture one hundred and thirty-two feet long, fifty-seven broad, and forty-seven high, with a square tower crowned with an angle turret. It was originally a parish church adjoining that of the priory of St. Bartholomew; but when the latter was pulled down as far as the choir, that portion was annexed by the king's order for the enlargement of the old church. It thus continued till Queen Mary gave it, with the residue of the priory church to the Blackfriars, who used it as their conventual church till the first year of Queen Elizabeth, when the friars were ejected, and the church restored by act of parliament to the parish.

The present church is in nearly the same state as it stood in the reign of Edward VI.; but the recent fire in May, 1830, has opened to view many of the beautiful and curious architectural antiquities which had been concealed by mean buildings.

On the north side of the chancel is an elegant monument of Rahere, the founder of the spendid adjacent hospital, with his effieies painted in proper colours, and his hands joined over his breast as if in prayer, recumbent beneath and arch, with an angel at his feet, and a friar on each side of him in the attitudes of prayer. This monument was repaired and beautified by William Bolton, the last prior of this convent. The patronage of this church, which, in all probability, was anciently in the prior and canons of St. Bartholomew is now in private hands. This parish claims an exemption from the necessity of being free of the city to carry on retail trades within its boundaries. The present rector is the Rev. John Abbiss, who was instituted by the late William Phillips, Esq., of Cavendish-square, its patron, in 1819.

Bartholomew (St.) The Great, a church in West Smithfield, in the ward of Farringdon Without, consisting of the choir and transepts of the church of the Priory of St. Bartholomew, founded in the reign of Henry I. by Rahere, "a pleasant-witted gentleman, and therefore in his time called the King's Minstrel," and completed in 1123.¹ This, though but the eastern portion of the original, is one of the most interesting of the old London churches. There is much good work of Norman architecture about it, and its entrance gate from Smithfield is an excellent specimen of the Early English period with the toothed ornament in its mouldings. Parts, however, are of the Perpendicular period, and the rebus of Prior Bolton, who died in 1532 (a bolt through a tun) fixes the date when the alterations were made. The roof is of timber, divided into compartments by a tie-beam and king-post. The choir is Norman, the clerestory Early English. The tower was built in 1628. The church, which had fallen into a sad state of disrepair, was restored under the direction of Professor T. Hayter Lewis and Mr. William Slater, 1863–1866. The old work was, as far as possible, left untouched. A further most important restoration was commenced in 1885 and has not yet (1888) been completed. The apse has been restored from a design of Mr. Aston Webb, architect. On the north side of the altar is the canopied tomb, with effigy, of Rahere, the first prior of his foundation. It is of a much later date than his decease, and is a good specimen of the Perpendicular period of Gothic architecture. It was coloured originally, and repainted at the late restoration. Opposite the founder's tomb is the spacious monument to Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor and Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge (d. 1589), who was buried in the church. The other monuments are of little importance, unless we except the bust (near Mildmay's monument) of James Rivers (d. 1641), probably the work of Hubert Le Sœur, who lived in Bartholomew Close, hard by, and is believed to have been buried here. There is one to Lockyer Davis, the bookseller (d. 1791). The parish register records the baptism (November 28, 1697) of William Hogarth, the painter, and of his two sisters, Mary (b. November 1699), and Anne (b. November 1701). Sir John Hayward the historian, died June 26, 1627, at his house in "Great Saint Bartholomew's, near Smithfield," and was buried in the church. To the poor of the parish he bequeathed £10.² From a very early period it has been the custom on Good Friday, after a sermon by the rector, to drop twenty-one sixpences in the churchyard near the presumed grave of the donor. The sixpences are picked up by as many women, previously selected, widows having preference. At the martyrdom of Anne Askew, 1546, "upon the bench under St. Bartholomew's Church, sat Wriothesley, Chancellor of England [who had already presided over her being put upon the rack, and, according to Foxe, assisted in the process with his own hands], the old Duke of Norfolk, the old Earl of Bedford, the Lord Mayor, with divers others."³ Along with Anne Askew were burned Nicholas Belenian, a priest of Shropshire; John Adams, a tailor; a gentleman of the Court and household of King Henry VIII.

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¹ Stow, p. 140.
² Cam. Soc., vol. vii. p. xlv.
³ Foxe, vol. v. p. 550.