Barbican

The Church is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, 10.30am to 4pm on Saturday's and 9am to 8pm to Sunday's (services during the day). Entry costs £4 for adults, £3 concessions.

020 7606 5171

St Bartholomew the Great is one of London’s oldest and finest churches, founded in 1123 by the monk Rahere, whose tomb can be found inside the church. Rahere is said to have erected the church in gratitude to God after recovering from a fever. This miraculous recovery led to the church becoming famous for its supposed powers to cure, with sick people filling its aisles each St Bartholomew's Day.

The church was originally part of a priory adjoining St Bartholomew's Hospital, but while the hospital survived the Dissolution about half of the priory church was demolished in 1543. The 13th century arch, leading to the church from Smithfield, used to be the door to the church, but today leads into the churchyard. The half-timbered gatehouse above the arch dates from a later period. From the church door, a path leads you roughly along where the south aisle of the nave used to be. Parts of the cloister survive and may be seen from the path, but little else of the monastic building survives.

The church was one of relatively few in London, which survived the Great Fire of 1666, the bombs dropped in Zeppelin raids in World War I and the Blitz in World War II. Today the church building presents an interesting and impressive collection of architectures, including the most significant Norman interior in London.

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