St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange |
|
|---|---|
An engraving of the church in 1839
|
|
| Location | London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Christopher Wren |
| Style | Baroque |
| Demolished | 1840 |
St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was a church in the City of London. It was located on Bartholomew Lane, near Threadneedle Street. People knew about this church since the 1200s.
A big fire, called the Great Fire of London, destroyed the church in 1666. After that, a famous architect named Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt it. But later, in 1840, the rebuilt church was taken down.
Early Church History
The church was named after Bartholomew the Apostle. People believe he was a Christian saint who died in Armenia. In 1571, a famous building called the Royal Exchange opened right next to the church.
The oldest record we have of the church is from 1225 or 1226. Because it was built long before the Royal Exchange, people first called it "St. Bartholomew the Less." This helped tell it apart from another big church, St Bartholomew-the-Great.
In 1547, a nearby chapel at St Bartholomew's Hospital became a parish church. It was then called St Bartholomew the Little. For a while, the church we are talking about was known as lytyll saynt Bathellmuw besyd sunt Antony's.
A writer named John Stow said the church was rebuilt in 1438. A rich man named Sir William Capel added a chapel to the south side in 1509. He lived in the area and was a Lord Mayor of London.
Miles Coverdale, who created the first full English Bible, was buried here in 1568. When the church was destroyed, his remains were moved to another church, St. Magnus-the-Martyr.
Rebuilding After the Great Fire
The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange. It was one of 89 churches that burned down. Records show that in 1674, people decided to pull down its damaged tower.
Rebuilding started in 1675 and finished in 1683. The total cost was about £5077, which was a lot of money back then. The new church was built on the old church's foundations. This made its shape a bit unusual.
Only the west side of the church, facing Bartholomew Lane, could be seen easily. This side had three sections. The middle section was as wide as the two outer sections put together. The outer parts had large, rounded windows. The middle section had a special window called a Venetian window above the main door.
The church's tower was in the southwest corner. It was made of brick and had a flat top. In the middle of each side of the tower was an open arch. This might have been a design choice or a plan for a taller spire that was never built.
Inside, the church had a main area (nave) and two side areas (aisles). These areas were separated by two rows of eight columns. These columns also held up a row of windows high up, called a clerestory. St Bartholomew's was one of the few churches designed by Wren that had a part that stuck out for the altar, called a chancel.
Besides the tower, there was also a chapel on the south side. This was where the old 1509 Capel chapel used to be. There was also a room for church meetings in the northeast corner. An architect named Edward John Carlos said the inside of the church was "light and graceful."
Why the Church Was Demolished
In 1838, the Royal Exchange, which had also been rebuilt after the Great Fire, burned down again. To make it easier to get to the Royal Exchange site, the City of London decided to make Threadneedle Street wider.
To do this, they asked permission to tear down St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange. They also wanted to demolish the nearby St Benet Fink church. Parliament agreed, and St. Bartholomew's was taken down in 1840.
A writer named Edward John Carlos worried about this. He wrote that people might regret losing St. Bartholomew's. He also feared that many more churches in London might be destroyed in the future.
The area that St. Bartholomew's church served was joined with the area of St Margaret Lothbury church. The money from selling the land where St. Bartholomew's stood was used to build a new church. This new church was called St. Bartholomew Moor Lane. It was designed to look like the old St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange. It even used some of its old furniture.
However, St. Bartholomew Moor Lane was also torn down in 1902. The money from that sale was used to build St. Bartholomew Stamford Hill.
The architect Charles Robert Cockerell also designed a building for Sun Life Assurance on the old church site. That building was later demolished, and now the Royal Bank of Scotland stands there.
Since St. Bartholomew's was torn down, 31 other churches in the City of London have been lost. Some were demolished, and others were destroyed by bombs during World War II.
