St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange

St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange

Location	London
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic, Anglican
Architecture
Architect(s)	Christopher Wren
Style	Baroque
Demolished	1840

St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was a church in the City of London located on Bartholomew Lane, off Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, then rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren. The rebuilt church was demolished in 1840.

Early history

St. Bartholomew was dedicated to the apostle who, by tradition, was martyred in Armenia by being flayed alive. The Royal Exchange was opened next to the church in 1571.

The earliest surviving reference to the church is in a document of 1225/6. As this was 3½ centuries before the foundation of the Royal Exchange, early references to the church are as “St. Bartholomew the Less” or “Little St. Bartholomew”, to distinguish it from the priory of St Bartholomew-the-Great. In 1547, upon the dissolution of the monasteries, the nearby chapel that stood within St Bartholomew's Hospital itself, was renamed St Bartholomew the Little, as a parish church. — now St. Bartholomew-the-Less. In the interim between this date and the building of the Royal Exchange, the church later called “St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange” became lytyll saynt Bathellmuw besyd sunt Antony's.

According to John Stow the church was rebuilt by an alderman assisted by a sheriff in 1438. In 1509, a south chapel was added by Lord Mayor and Draper Sir William Capel, whose mansion was in the parish.

Although he was rector of St Magnus-the-Martyr, Miles Coverdale - the creator of the first complete translation of the Bible into English - was buried in St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange in 1568.^[1] Upon the destruction of the church, his remains were moved to St. Magnus’.

Rebuilding

St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was one of 89 churches destroyed in the Great Fire. An entry in Robert Hooke’s diary of 1674 records a decision to pull down the damaged steeple. Rebuilding began the following year and finished in 1683 at a total cost of £5077.

Parish boundary mark on wall of the Bank of England

The plan of the new church was irregular as it was built on the foundations of its predecessor.

Only the west face of the church, on Bartholomew Lane, was exposed. This was three bays wide, the central bay being equal in width to the two outer bays combined. The two outer bays had large round headed windows, while the central bay had a Venetian window above the main entrance. The tower was in the south west corner and was built of brick, with a parapet on top. In the middle of each side was an open arch supported by ramps. This was either a whimsical design or preparation for a steeple that was never erected.

Inside, the church was divided into a nave and two aisles by two rows of eight columns which also supported a clerestory. St. Bartholomew’s was one of the few Wren churches to have a protruding chancel. In addition to the tower, also projecting from the quadrilateral body from the church was a chapel on the south side – on the site of the 1509 Capel chapel and a vestry room on the north east corner.

Carlos described the church’s interior as “light and graceful”.^[2]

Demolition

In 1838, the Royal Exchange, which had also been rebuilt after the Great Fire, burnt down. In order to improve access to the site of the Exchange, the Corporation of London petitioned Parliament for permission to demolish St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange – as well as the neighbouring St. Benet Fink, so that Threadneedle Street may be widened. This was granted and the church demolished in 1840. Edward John Carlos, writing in The Gentleman's Magazine prophesied: “The apathy with which the removal of St Bartholomew’s church will be remembered and felt when perhaps the loss of this church will be found a trifle in comparison with the wholesale destruction to which, ere long, the churches of the metropolis may chance to be destined”.^[2]

The parish was combined with that of St Margaret Lothbury and proceeds of the sale of the site were used to build St. Bartholomew Moor Lane. This church, designed by Charles Robert Cockerell, was a replica of St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange and included much of its furnishings. This, in turn, was demolished in 1902 and the £20,400 realised from the sale of this site were used to build St. Bartholomew Stamford Hill.

Current photo of site

Cockerell also designed the Sun Life Assurance building that was erected on the site of the demolished church. This, in turn, was demolished and the site is now occupied by the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Since the demolition of St. Bartholomew’s, 31 City churches have been lost due to demolition or bombing during the World War II.

References and sources

References

↑ "The London Encyclopaedia" Hibbert,C; Weinreb,B; Keay,J: London, Pan Macmillan, 1983 (rev 1993,2008) ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5
1 2 Carlos, Edward John (May 1840). "Church of St Benet Fink". The Gentleman's Magazine. 167: 464.

Sources

Jeffery, Paul. The city churches of Sir Christopher Wren, (Hambledon Press, 1996)
Weinreb, Ben & Hibbert, Christopher (eds.) . The London Encyclopaedia, (Macmillan, 1992)
Cobb,Gerald. London city churches, (B T Batsford Ltd., 1977)
Huelin, Gordon. Vanished churches of the City of London, (Guildhall Library Publications, 1996)

External links

Media related to St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange at Wikimedia Commons

Churches in the City of London
Existing churches	All Hallows-by-the-Tower All Hallows-on-the-Wall City Temple Dutch Church, Austin Friars St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe St Andrew, Holborn St Andrew Undershaft St Anne and St Agnes St Bartholomew-the-Great St Bartholomew-the-Less St Benet, Paul's Wharf St Botolph, Aldersgate St Botolph, Aldgate St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate St Bride, Fleet Street St Clement, Eastcheap St Dunstan-in-the-West St Edmund, King and Martyr St Ethelburga, Bishopsgate St Giles, Cripplegate St Helen, Bishopsgate St James, Garlickhythe St Katharine Cree St Lawrence Jewry St Magnus the Martyr St Margaret Lothbury St Margaret Pattens St Martin, Ludgate St Mary Abchurch St Mary Aldermary St Mary Moorfields St Mary Woolnoth St Mary-at-Hill St Mary-le-Bow St Michael, Cornhill St Michael, Paternoster Royal St Nicholas, Cole Abbey St Olave, Hart Street St Paul's Cathedral St Peter upon Cornhill St Sepulchre-without-Newgate St Stephen Walbrook St Vedast alias Foster Temple Church
Churches of which only the tower remains	All Hallows, Staining Christ Church, Greyfriars St Alban, Wood Street St Alphage London Wall St Augustine, Watling Street St Dunstan-in-the-East St Martin Orgar St Mary Somerset St Olave, Old Jewry
Churches rebuilt after the Great Fire but since demolished	All Hallows Bread Street All Hallows Lombard Street All-Hallows-the-Great St Antholin, Budge Row St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange St Benet Fink St Benet Gracechurch St Christopher le Stocks St Dionis Backchurch St George Botolph Lane St Katherine Coleman St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street St Matthew Friday Street St Michael Bassishaw St Michael, Crooked Lane St Michael Queenhithe St Michael-le-Querne St Michael Wood Street St Mildred, Bread Street St Mildred, Poultry St Stephen Coleman Street St Swithin, London Stone
Churches destroyed in the Great Fire and not rebuilt	All Hallows Honey Lane All-Hallows-the-Less Holy Trinity the Less St Andrew Hubbard St Ann Blackfriars St Benet Sherehog St Botolph Billingsgate St Faith under St Paul's St Gabriel Fenchurch St Gregory by St Paul's St John the Baptist upon Walbrook St John the Evangelist Friday Street St John Zachary St Laurence Pountney St Leonard, Eastcheap St Leonard, Foster Lane St Margaret Moses St Margaret, New Fish Street St Martin Pomary St Martin Vintry St Mary Bothaw St Mary Colechurch St Mary Magdalen Milk Street St Mary Mounthaw St Mary Staining St Mary Woolchurch Haw St Michael-le-Querne St Nicholas Acons St Nicholas Olave St Olave, Silver Street St Pancras, Soper Lane St Peter, Paul's Wharf St Peter, Westcheap St Thomas the Apostle
Other former churches	College of Minor Canons Holy Trinity Gough Square Hospital of St Thomas of Acre Old St Paul's Cathedral St Audoen within Newgate St Augustine Papey St James Duke's Place St Martin Outwich St Mary Axe St Nicholas Shambles St Peter le Poer

Coordinates: 51°30′50″N 0°05′14″W / 51.51376°N 0.0873°W / 51.51376; -0.0873

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