St Bartholomew the Less is an Anglican church in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, associated with

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (die ...

, within whose precincts it stands. Once a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, it has, since 1 June 2015, been a chapel of ease in the parish of St Bartholomew the Great.

History

The present establishment is the latest in a series of

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

es and

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s associated with the hospital over the past 800 years. Its earliest predecessor, known as the Chapel of the Holy Cross, was founded nearby in 1123 (at the same time as the

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

, now the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great) before moving to the present site in 1184. Along with most other religious foundations the hospital was dissolved by Henry VIII. It was then refounded by King Henry VIII, when the chapel became an Anglican parish church serving those living within its precincts. Its suffix, "the less", was given to distinguish it from its larger neighbour, St Bartholomew the Great (the former priory). The church's tower and west façade date from 15th century, with two of its three bells dating from 1380 and 1420. They hang within an original medieval bell frame, believed to be the oldest in the City of London. In 1793,

George Dance the Younger George Dance the Younger RA (1 April 1741 – 14 January 1825) was an English architect and surveyor as well as a portraitist. The fifth and youngest son of the architect George Dance the Elder, he came from a family of architects, artists an ...

, a

Royal Academician The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

, created a new octagonal interior within the shell of the medieval chapel, its clerestorey rising above the old walls. The new construction was made entirely of wood and soon became affected by

dry-rot Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...

. In 1823 it was replaced under the supervision of Thomas Hardwick, who replicated the timber construction in stone with an iron ceiling. He also made alterations to the detailing. The church suffered some bomb damage during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

but this was repaired and the church reopened by 1951. St Bartholomew the Less Church's interior although small is light and airy, largely due to George Dance's use of high lunette windows. Its form is that of an octagonal Gothic vault fitted into a square by the means of adding open triangular chapels at its corners. The church was designated a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 4 January 1950 and is associated with the Haberdashers' Company, its close neighbour in West Smithfield at Haberdashers' Hall, EC1. After a few years in which the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the nearby St Bartholomew the Great was simultaneously Priest-in-Charge of St Bartholomew the Less, with the church retaining its own PCC and

Churchwardens A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

, on 1 June 2015, the parishes of both churches were dissolved and replaced with the united benefice of Great St Bartholomew. The

of the former parish of St Bartholomew the Great became

of the united benefice. The boundary of the new parish incorporates precisely both former parishes. There is now a single PCC and

responsible for both buildings. The parish church is St Bartholomew the Great, while St Bartholomew the Less is a Chapel of Ease within the parish. Services continue to be held at the church, especially a 12:30 Anglican Eucharist on Tuesdays, a 12:30 Roman Catholic Mass at 12:30 on Thursdays, and a 10:00 Anglican Family Eucharist on most Sundays of the year.

Notable people associated with the church

Thomas Bodley Sir Thomas Bodley (2 March 1545 – 28 January 1613) was an English diplomat and scholar who founded the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Origins Thomas Bodley was born on 2 March 1545, in the second-to-last year of the reign of King Henry VIII, ...

, founder of Bodleian Library: buried 1613 *

Thomas D'Oylie Thomas D'Oylie or D'Oyly (c.1548-1603) was a leading English physician and Spanish scholar of the Elizabethan era.Anthony à Wood ''Athenae Oxoniensis: an Exact History of all the Writers and Bishops who have had their Education in the University o ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and linguist: buried 1603 * Inigo Jones,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

: baptised 1573 *

Abbots of Shrewsbury The recorded abbots of Shrewsbury run from ''c'' 1087, four years after Shrewsbury Abbey's foundation, to 1540, its dissolution under Thomas Cromwell. The abbey was large and well-endowed and the abbots were often important political figures as w ...

, Richard Lye, Abbot of Shrewsbury: buried 1512 *

John Lyly John Lyly (; c. 1553 or 1554 – November 1606; also spelled ''Lilly'', ''Lylie'', ''Lylly'') was an English writer, dramatist of the University Wits, courtier, and parliamentarian. He was best known during his lifetime for his two books '' E ...

, author and playwright: buried November, 1606 * Thomas Monro,

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

and

Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

of St Bartholomew the Less, 1754–65 * Thomas Watson, poet: buried 1592

Notes

External links

Official website

AIM25 Archive page for St Barts the Less
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bartholomew the Less 12th-century establishments in England Pre–Great Fire churches in the City of London Church of England church buildings in the City of London Grade II* listed churches in the City of London Diocese of London Anglo-Catholic church buildings in the City of London

History

Notable people associated with the church

See also

Notes

External links