The Barbican area (8), London  
Front view of the Gatehouse, Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Barbican, London, England, Great Britain
The Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.

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.

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Rear view of the Gatehouse, Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Barbican, London, England, Great Britain
The Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.

The view of the gatehouse from inside the churchyard.

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The Nave, Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Barbican, London, England, Great Britain
The Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.

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.

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The Oriel Window, Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Barbican, London, England, Great Britain
The Church of St. Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield.

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.

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