I was walking through Smithfield the other day and took shelter from the sun in the churchyard of St Bartholomew the Great. I noticed that the church was open so decided to pop inside for a look around this majestic historic building.

St Bartholomew the Great was founded in 1123 by a courtier of Henry I called Rahere. Depending on how you judge such things it’s the oldest church in London that has held continuous services. All Hallows by the Tower is built on the site of a 7th Century Saxon church and there was a church of similar age where St Paul’s Cathedral stands today. 

Rahere was an intriguing character being listed as variously a jester, minstrel, and a cleric. He was listed as a canon of St Paul’s cathedral in 1115. He embarked on a pilgrimage to Rome following the White Ship disaster in 1120 when the heir to the throne of England sank on a ship along with 300 nobles, barons, and sailors. The only survivor was said to be a butcher from Rouen. There’s a great novel about this incident called, The White Ship.

Rahere developed a fever during his pilgrimage and in the grip of his illness vowed to build a church for a poor in London if he recovered. On his journey back to London he had a vision of the Apostle Bartholomew who commanded him to build a church upon the ’Smooth field’, Smithfield.

You can see a gold statue of St Bartholomew called Exquisite Pain, created by the artist Damien Hirst, that is currently on loan to the church. 

King Henry I supported the building of the St Bartholomew the Great church, priory and hospital (which includes the chapel, St Bartholomew-the-Less) which started in 1123. The church was only partially complete at the time of Rahere’s death in 1145. He still resides in the church in a tomb that was rebuilt in 1405.

The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and the nave of the church was demolished. The rest of the church and priory were mostly preserved. The Elizabethan style timbered porch was the main entrance to the priory. The 17th century tower contains 5 medieval bells.

St Bartholomew the Great is famous for its appearances in a number of films – most notably Four Weddings and a Funeral and Shakespeare in Love.

This is part of my ongoing YouTube series on the Churches of the City of London