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CitySt Bartholomew the Great Church Smithfield SquareLondon This is one of the oldest churches still existing within the boundaries of the City of London, having been built in 1123 in the time of Henry I. It has survived the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the bombing during the Blitz in World War II, which razed most of the surrounding area to the ground.
The Abbey Church was built in the Normal style between 1123 and 1145 with huge round pillars supporting the rounded arches. In 1539 Henry VIII dissolved the monastery, and turned the monks out. He also had the nave of the Abbey Church knocked down and turned the remaining part of the building into a parish church. The interior of the Church has been used for film locations in such films as "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" and "Shakespeare in Love". The Square outside the Church and hospital is known as Cloth Fair, because a mediaeval fair was held here ("Bartholomew Fair") until the Victorian age. The Scots activist and freedom fighter William Wallace (of "Braveheart" fame)was put to death here in 1305 by the gruesome method reserved in the Middle Ages for convicted traitors (he was "hung, drawn and quartered"). Nearby is Smithfield the famous meat market (the name is a corruption of "Smooth Field" - where the monks of the original Abbey grew their vegetables). The meat market is still in full operation, and is a hive of bustle and activity early every morning. The pubs here open early too, and provide enormous breakfasts for the market porters and anyone else who is there early enough.
Nearest Tube station: St Pauls.
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What you see now is only a small part of the original foundation - which was a monastery for the monks who tended the sick in the nearby Hospital of St Bartholomew. The hospital was founded by a monk called Rahere in the 11th Century - it is still there, and is affectionately shortened to "Bart's" by Londoners. The hospital specialises in diseases of the heart.