St. Bartholomew-the-Great Church & Lady Chapel in London

Q: Which is the closest train station?

The nearest station is Barbican , which connects with the Circle Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. It only takes two minutes to walk to St. Bartholomew-the-Great.

Useful things to know before your visit

Address: St. Bartholomew-the-Great, West Smithfield, The City EC1A 9DS. Telephone: 0207 600 0440. Website: greatstbarts.com

How much do the tickets cost?

St. Bartholomew-the-Great is free.

What are the opening hours?

Opening times are 10am to 5pm (Mon-Sat); 9am to 6pm (Sun, for services only).

How much time do you need?

A typical visit to St. Bartholomew-the-Great takes 30 to 45 minutes.

Which buses go to St. Bartholomew-the-Great?

Bus routes 17, 45, 46, 63, 8, 25, 56, 4, 153, 242, 521, 100, 243 and 341 all stop close by.

Which is the closest train station?

The nearest station is Barbican, which connects with the Circle Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. It only takes two minutes to walk to St. Bartholomew-the-Great.

Which other attractions are nearby?

These attractions are all within 15 minutes walk of St. Bartholomew-the-Great: London Museum, Postman’s Park, Charterhouse, St. John’s Gate, St. Paul’s Cathedral, One New Change, Guildhall, Guildhall Art Gallery, Dr. Johnson’s House and Staple Inn.

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My review of St. Bartholomew-the-Great

Worth a visit? ★★☆Good value? freeGood for kids? ☆☆☆

Reviewed by Craig Cross on 22 September 2025. Times and prices updated on 22 July 2026

St Bartholomew’s dates back to the 1120s when one of Henry I’s courtiers, Rahere, was lying dying of a fever on his pilgrimage to Rome. In his delirious state he imagined that St Bartholomew promised to save him if he built an Augustinian priory back in London, so after getting the boat back home he convinced the King to give him a packet of land by Smithfield.

You can see his tomb just to the left of the altar. If you’re lucky then you might even meet the man himself because he’s the city’s most punctual ghost – he’s supposed to hobble out of the vestry at 7 AM every 1st July trying to find the foot that was pilfered by a workman working on his tomb.

Rahere’s tomb at St. Bartholomew-the-Great

Prior Bolton’s Oriel window

It’s never very busy when I’ve visited and the first thing that hits you when you creak open the door is the wonderfully thick smell of incense that reminds you of Christmas. Everything is quiet and low and barely even there, just a few mysterious creaks from the locked-off chapels and spears of sunshine falling through the high up windows.

One of the most easily missed details is Prior Bolton’s Oriel Window (the same guy who worked on Henry VII’s Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey). If you look up above the arches to the right of the altar then you’ll see it hanging over the pews. Back in the 1520s his house butted up against the outside and he had this little window put in so he could watch the services below while keeping an eye on his mischievous monks.

Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries

Only the first four bays around the altar are original to Rahere’s day – the other half of the nave was ransacked and destroyed during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. You can see where it originally extended to if you stand by that half-timbered Tudor gatehouse on the street. That was added in 1595 when the buildings were briefly used as a Dominican friary under Mary I.

Great Fire of London & The Blitz

The sturdy old priory walls saved the church from further damage in the Great Fire of London but couldn’t save it from disrepair, and by the 1720s the cloisters had been turned into stables, the crypt was a coal store, and the Lady Chapel became a printers – the same place where a young Benjamin Franklin worked as an apprentice typesetter before heading over to America to sign the Declaration of Independence.

The Lady Chapel where Benjamin Franklin worked as a typesetter

The church came through the Blitz relatively unscathed (save for a few incendiary bombs that had to be kicked off the roof by the curate) and these days it earns some pocket money as a movie set – you might remember it as the place where Hugh Grant nearly got married in Four Weddings And A Funeral, where Kevin Costner met Maid Marion in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, and where Lord Blackwood was seen preparing a human sacrifice in Sherlock Holmes.

What do you think? (4)

Ask a question, or share your experience of St. Bartholomew-the-Great

P Elver Is there a sunday service. (reply)

Craig Hi P Elver. They usually have a service at 9 AM, 10 AM and 11 AM, plus a choral evensong at 5 PM. You can see a list of all their services here – greatstbarts.com/worship/service-times/ (reply)

SS Whats the nearest tube. (reply)

Craig Hi SS. It’s a quick 2 minute walk from Barbican station. (reply)

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