Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ST BARTHOLOMEW-THE-GREAT
Cloth Fair Barbican 020 7606 5171,
www.greatstbarts.com
.
Mon-Fri 8.30am-5pm, Sat 10.30am-4pm,
Sun 8.30am-8pm.mid-Nov to mid-Feb Tues-Fri closes 4pm.£4.
MAP
Begun in 1123, St Bartholomew-the-Great is London's oldest and most atmospheric parish
church. Its half-timbered Tudor gatehouse on Little Britain incorporates a thirteenth-century
arch that once formed the entrance to the nave; above, a wooden statue of St Bartholomew
stands holding the knife with which he was flayed. One side of the medieval cloisters sur-
vives to the south, immediately to the right as you enter the church. The rest is a confusion
of elements, including portions of the transepts and, most impressively, the chancel, where
stout Norman pillars separate the main body of the church from the ambulatory. There are
various pre-Fire monuments to admire, the most prominent being the tomb of Rahere, court
jester to Henry I, which shelters under a fifteenth-century canopy north of the main altar.
