CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL

CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, WEST SMITHFIELD EC1

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1180946
Date first listed:: 04-Jan-1950
List Entry Name:: CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL
Statutory Address:: CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, WEST SMITHFIELD EC1

User submitted image — Uploaded by Dominic Martin This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Images of England Project

To view this image please use Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge.

Archive image, may not represent current condition of site.

Date:: 2002-07-14
Reference:: IOE01/03435/13
Rights:: © Mr Paul Howard. Source: Historic England Archive

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1180946
Date first listed:: 04-Jan-1950
List Entry Name:: CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL
Statutory Address 1:: CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, WEST SMITHFIELD EC1

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: CHURCH OF ST BARTHOLOMEW THE LESS, ST BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL, WEST SMITHFIELD EC1

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Greater London Authority
District:: City and County of the City of London (London Borough)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ 31882 81600

Details

WEST SMITHFIELD EC1 1. 5002 St Bartholomew's Hospital TQ 3181 NE 2/24 4.1.50 Church of St Bartholomew the Less II*

Anglican church and hospital chapel. C15 south-west tower; late medieval brick walling and some masonry, possibly of an earlier date, to north-west vestry. The octagonal nave, which is built from brick, stone and cast-iron, dates to 1823-5, its architect being Thomas Hardwick, then Hospital Surveyor, who was reproducing George Dance's octagonal nave of 1789-91; the builder was Peto. Five-sided chancel and window tracery added in an 1862-3 restoration by Philip Hardwick. Fittings added through the 1860s. Further restorations in the C20, particularly in 1950 to repair war damage; stained glass by Hugh Easton from this time. The post-medieval work in a Gothic Revival manner. Five-sided apse, pierced with lancets; shafts to rib vaulting; chancel arch and steps. Octagonal nave, with triangular areas on the diagonal axes; stellar vault with robust bosses. Geometric tracery of 1862-3 to clerestorey windows on the diagonal axes of the octagonal drum; diaphragm arches to triangular areas below. Perpendicular tracery of two and three lights below, most with Y-shaped heads. Organ to west gallery; narthex to east of entrance of one bay. Encaustic tile paving, pews, some of which along walls, and altar rail, all of 1862-3; carved pulpit given by Philip Hardwick 1864. The floor of the main body of the church is approximately two-and-a-half feet above ground level, a peculiarity which has not been fully explained but which may indicate the presence of vaults. Chandeliers in a late C18 manner suspended from central boss and apex of diaphram arches. Good collection of monuments and brasses of C15 to C20. Those of particular note: Brass in vestry to William Markeby (obit 1439) and his wife; memorial to John and Mary Darker, 1784, 1800, signed by J Binley. Aedicular monument to Thomas Bodley in north-east corner. Octagonal Anglican churches are very rare; Dance adopted the plan in part as an expedient, fitting the piers into the roughly square area enclosed by the medieval nave and aisle walls. He may have been influenced by the dozen non-conformist octagonal churches built between 1761 and 1776. He used a similar plan for the rebuilding of Micheldever tower in Hampshire, 1806-8, again retaining the medieval tower at the west end. To judge from Dance's drawings, Hardwick was relatively faithful to the earlier designs but was compelled to replace the filling medieval walls retained by Dance with new construction.

Listing NGR: TQ3188281600

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 199825
Legacy System:: LBS

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.