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St Bartholomew-the-Great Church

St Bartholomew-the-Great, in Smithfield, is a church founded in 1123 by Rahere, a canon of St Paul's, as an Augustinian priory. King Henry I granted him the land. After the dissolution of the monasteries, about half of the building was demolished in 1543, but the Norman transept and choir were saved, which John Betjeman considered the best Norman interior in London. It also escaped the Great Fire of 1666. It keeps the tomb of Rahere, which mixes Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic, and an oriel of Prior William Bolton, from the early 16th century, with a visual pun on his surname. The clock tower dates from 1628 and holds bells from between 1500 and 1514. William Hogarth was baptised here and Benjamin Franklin worked in 1725 at a print shop set up in the Lady Chapel. It has been used as a filming location. It stands next to St Bartholomew's hospital.

Things to do at St Bartholomew-the-Great Church: 4 missions

• Admire the 12th-century Norman choirGo in and observe the round arches and massive pillars of the transept and the choir, the part that survived the demolition of 1543.
• Look at the façade and the tower from outsideFrom outside, observe the clock tower of 1628 and the entrance facing Smithfield.
• Find the tomb of the founder RahereFind the funerary monument of Rahere, founder of the priory in 1123, and notice its mix of Gothic styles.
• Find Prior Bolton's orielLook for the oriel that Prior William Bolton had installed in the early 16th century and which carries a visual pun on his name.

Near St Bartholomew-the-Great Church

Source: Web oficial - Great St Barts