

The Barbican area (8), London

The entrance gateway to the churchyard of St. Bartholomew the Great. This Tudor structure used to have an entirely different and mundane facade until a bomb dropped nearby, during a zeppelin raid during the first world war, causing the facade to crumble and reveal what we see now. The fact that it was a timber-framed Tudor building had obviously been forgotten for a very long time.
You can see a small part of the west end of the church through the arch.
Comment |

The view of the gatehouse from inside the churchyard.
Comment |

The original church was founded in 1123 but in 1539 the nave was demolished and what remained is what you see today. Although it appears to have a large nave it is really only the Quire and Sanctuary of the original church. That should give you an idea of how large the original church was.
Comment |

An Oriel window in the nave. Oriel windows are not unusual generally but to find one inside the nave of a church is unusual. The window was installed inside the church in the 16th century by William Bolton, allegedly so that he could spy on the monks. I would have thought that something that obvious would rather give the game away.
Comment | More of the church |