St Bartholomew-the-Less
| St Bartholomew the Less | |
|
London, Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Bartholomew the Less | |
| Church of England | |
| Diocese of London | |
| Parish: | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 51°31’5"N, 0°6’2"W |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Website: | stbartstheless.org.uk |
St Bartholomew the Less is a Church of England church in the City of London, Middlesex, and formerly served as both a parish church and the church of St Bartholomew's Hospital within the ancient hospital precincts.[1]
Since 1 June 2015 the church has been a chapel of ease in the Parish of Great St Bartholomew, formed out of its parish and that of its neighbour St Bartholomew the Great. It also has an association with the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, whose livery hall, Haberdashers' Hall, is a close neighbour in West Smithfield.
The church is designated a Grade II* listed building.[2].
History
The present establishment is the latest in a series of churches and chapels 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, now the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great) before moving to the present site in 1184.[3] 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 a parish church serving those living within its precincts.[4] 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 mediæval bell frame, believed to be the oldest in the City of London.
The leading Jacobean architect Inigo Jones was baptised in St Bartholomew The Less in 1573.
In 1793 George Dance the Younger, a Royal Academician, created a new octagonal interior within the shell of the mediæval chapel,[5] its clerestory rising above the old walls. The new construction was made entirely of wood and soon became affected by dry-rot. In 1823 it was replaced under the supervision of Thomas Hardwick,[6] who replicated the timber construction in stone with an iron ceiling. He also made alterations to the detailing.[4]
The church suffered some bomb damage during the Blitz of the Second World War 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.[7]
The process of merging the parishes began when the Rector of the nearby St Bartholomew the Great was simultaneously Priest-in-Charge of St Bartholomew the Less, and in 2015 the parish was merged into its neighbour so that St Bartholomew the Less became a Chapel of Ease.
Outside links
References
- ↑ Betjeman, John: 'The City of London Churches' (Pitkin, 1967) ISBN 0-85372-112-2
- ↑ National Heritage List 1180946: St Bartholomew the Less
- ↑ Hibbert, C; Weinreb, D. & Keay, J. (1983) The London Encyclopaedia. London: Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993, 2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Godwin, George; John Britton (1839). The Churches of London: A History and Description of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of the Metropolis. London: C. Tilt. https://books.google.com/books?id=AtI9AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover.
- ↑ Bradley, Simon & Pevsner, Nikolaus (1998) London: the City Churches. London: Penguin Books (reissued by Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002 ISBN 0-300-09655-0)
- ↑ "The City Churches" Tabor, M. p119:London; The Swarthmore Press Ltd; 1917
- ↑ Cobb, Gerald (1942) The Old Churches of London. London: Batsford