An account of the famous Religious House founded in this place by Raherus in , is given in another part of the present work, in the description of the Views of the Priory and Parish-Church of St. Bartholomew the Great. With the Priory was also connected an Hospital for diseased poor, a short distance from the Church, dedicated to the same patron, to which the edifice represented in the annexed Plate was a Chapel:[a]  and upon the suppression of the monastic establishment in , it was allowed to remain as a Parish-Church for the inhabitants dwelling within the precincts of the Hospital. The boundaries of those precincts commenced at Pye-corner, or the northern end of , and extended easterly to , or , including all the western side of it to the Blue Anchor Inn, nearly opposite the entrance to , to the Angel, and from the Angel, southward. From the corner of the limits passed on the north sde of Little-Britain westward to , excepting houses westward of the Blue Anchor Inn; and from the south side of Little-Britain they extended from eastward houses beyond Peterborough-Court: taking in also , Long-Walk, and Well Yard; with houses on the south, and on the north, sides of Windmill Court, and all other Courts in this compass.[b] —The living of this Parish was made a Vicarage subject to the Archdeacon of London, in subordination to the Bishop, and the patronage was given to

the Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens, of London, Governors of the Hospital for the Poor, called Little St. Bartholomew's near to

West- Smithfield

of the Foundation of King Henry VIII.

In the presence of Sir John Harte, Knight, President, Mr. Ffysher, Treasurer, Mr. John Newman, &c. &c. Forasmuch as this Courte ys certenly informed of a truth theire have bene certen dutys for buryalls, marryages, and such like, more than are thowght convenyent, demaunded and taken of the Parishioners of Lytle Bartholomew's Parish, in Westsmythefielde, by the Vicar, Clarke, and Sexton, of the same Parish; whiche dutys are more than of awntient time have bene accustomed, and are thowght to be more than stande agreeable wyth a good conscience as by the perticulars may appere; and for that this Courte hathe decreede to remove extortion in the premises, and to sett' unitie and concord betwene the Vicar, Clarke, and Sexton, and the said Parishioners;—it is therefore ordered that all suche dutys as foresaide be comytted to the consideracion of sixt or ffower of the Governors of this howse, to be rated and sett downe in a table fayer wrytten, as in other parish-churches, ffor buryalls, marryages, and christonyngs; and that the Clarke of the said Parish, for the tyme being, shall henceforth within iij moneths pay over unto Mr. Treasorer, for the tyme beinge, to and for the use of the Hospitall, all such dutyes as do belonge and have bene heretofore accustomed.—Duties to the Hospital for Funerals in the Chancel,

13

s.

4

d.

—South Aisle,

10

s.

—Body of the Church,

6

s.

8

d.

—Cloysters,

3

s.

4

d.

—Item for Peals,

3

s.

4

d.

—owte of this the Clarke to have

20

d.

to gett ringers. For burying any person in the Chancel,

3

s.

4

d.

—South Aisle,

2

s.

6

d.

—Body of the Church,

2

s.

—Cloisters,

2

s.

—Church Yard,

16

d.

The Vicar for Marryages,

1

s.

6

d.

; and Christenings,

10

d.

'

The edifice of the Church of St. Bartholomew the Less, is situated on the north side of a passage called , leading from the south-east side of into the Court of Saint Bartholomew's Hospital; as represented in the lower part of the annexed Plate. At the western end is a square tower having gothic window on the south, others on the west, and a small turret at the south-western corner. The principal entry to the Church is in the passage out of Smithfield, and above it is a large window with armorial ensigns and the inscription Mr. Henrie Andrewes, Alderman, . As this building stood considerably beyond the northern extremity of the Great Fire, on the south side of it are some old windows parted by mullions, now filled up, and also some ancient sculptures of the armorial ensigns of Edward the Confessor, impaling those of England, under an imperial crown; with angels supporting blank shields and scrolls. On the north side of the Hospital, and south of the Church, is a fair court, having the Vicar's large and handsome house at the eastern end; in which might formerly be seen part of the ancient walls of the Church, appearing over those erected around them by Dance about years since.[f]  The whole of the remaining fabric of the Church, which was built of rough brick and boulder-stones, has been long covered with plaster on the exterior,[g]  and no part of the ancient edifice is visible within: the north wall of the Church is concealed by the houses in Smithfield, and the ancient chancel, now a vestry-room, is invisible from all places.

The upper part of the annexed Engraving represents the Interior of the Church looking to the altar-table in the east, between the pulpit and reading-desk. According to the modern alteration this part of the edifice is octangular, enclosed by square outward

handsomely new-pewed with oak,

excepting in the chancel, which is more than answered by the chapel on the north, where the poor lame people sit.

The ancient sepulchral monuments contained in St. Bartholomew the Less are both numerous and interesting; and to their names and inscriptions the account given by Stow is almost exclusively limited.[a] 

[a] In J. P. Malcolm's Londinum Redivivum, Vol. i. Lond. 1803. 4to. p. 298, there is given the following notice of Charities established in this Chapel.—James Wilford gave one tenement in the Parish of St. Michael, Crooked Lane. of the value of £ 16 per annum, for one priest and one obit. John Clopton, Esq. by license from Edward IV. founded in this Chapel a Perpetual Chantry, calling it Fray's Chantry; and for maintenance thereof, with one yearly Obit, he gave to the Priest the Manor of Collyngamhall, and divers lands belonging to it, in the County of Suffolk, of the value of £ 10 per annum.

[b] New View of London, by Edward Hatton, Lond. 1708. 8vo. Vol. I. p. 149. New Remarks of London, by the Company of Parish Clerks. Lond. 1732. 12mo. p. 143. In the former book it is stated that this Parish contained in the whole 134 houses, beside the poor in the Hospital, which may be in a medium constantly about 370 persons. The number of houses in this Parish in 1801 was 68, that of the inhabitants 471, and that of the persons in the Hospital 481: in 1811 the houses amounted to 61, the inhabitants to 419, and the persons in the Hospital to 124: in 1821 the houses were 52, the inhabitants 352, and the patients in the Hospital 471: in 1831 the whole population of the Parish was 863.

[c] In Richard Newcourt's History of the Diocess of London, Lond. 1708. fol. Vol. i. p. 298, the Charges of the Church are thus stated:— First Fruits .................................... 13 6 8 Tenths ........................................ 1 6 8 Bishop's Procuration, to be paid by the Hospital....... 2 0 0 Archdeacon's Procuration ........................ 0 3 4 -------- £ 16 16 8 --------

[d] History of London by William Maitland, Edit. by Entick, Lond. 1772. fol. vol. ii. p. 1070. In the same authority the Churchwarden's account for 1727 states that Samuel Chapman received of the Parish £ 224. 15s. 8d. and that he paid on account of the poor £ 244. 1s. 3d.

[e] Malcolm's Londinum Redivivum, vol. i. p. 302.

[f] A view of the exterior of this Church before the alteration, is contained in Maitland's History of London, vol. ii. p. 1070. In the Plan of London executed by Radulphus Aggas, about 1562, it is represented as having a square tower embattled, at the north end of the body, which has a pointed roof and three arched windows, with an entrance at the eastern extremity.

[g] This Church, says Hatton, in 1708, is old, and of the gothic order, built of brick and boulder, rendered over with finishing. New View of London, vol. ii. p. 146. In R. & J. Dodsley's London and its Environs Described, Lond. 1761, 8vo. vol. i. p. 256, it is described as a low building of brick and rough stone with plaster.

[a] Stow's Survey of London, Edit. by the Rev. J. Strype, Lond. 1720, Vol. I. book iii. chap. xii. pp. 232-234: Some of the Monumental inscriptions in this Church are also given in the account of it in Hatton's New View of London, Vol. l. pp. 146, 149; and there are likewise some contained in John Weever's Ancient Funerall Monuments, Lond. 1631. fol. p. 435.