Smithfield - Church of St Bartholomew

This is the oldest church in the city, founded in 1123 by Henry I’s courtier Rahere, who was ordered to do so in a vision, and he became its first prior.
The orders concern was mostly for the poor and the sick, which led to the founding of the adjacent hospital best known as Barts.

The entrance from west Smithfield is through a 13th century gate, to which the church once extended, with an Elizabethan half-timbered gatehouse above.
Inside are huge Norman columns and arches, and repeated on a smaller scale in the gallery.

On the south side is an oriel window which one prior is said to have added so that he could attend services without leaving his residence.