Church Of St Bartholomew The Less, St Bartholomew'S Hospital

This is an Anglican church and hospital chapel. The south-west tower dates to the 15th century, with late medieval brick walling and some masonry, possibly from an earlier structure, to the north-west vestry. The octagonal nave, constructed from brick, stone, and cast iron, was built between 1823 and 1825 by Peto, based on designs by Thomas Hardwick, the Hospital Surveyor, who was replicating the octagonal nave designed by George Dance between 1789 and 1791. A five-sided chancel and window tracery were added during a restoration by Philip Hardwick between 1862 and 1863. Further fittings were added throughout the 1860s, and restorations occurred in the 20th century, particularly in 1950 to repair war damage; stained glass by Hugh Easton is from this period. The post-medieval work is in a Gothic Revival style.

The church includes a five-sided apse pierced with lancets, featuring shafts to rib vaulting, a chancel arch, and steps. The octagonal nave has triangular areas along the diagonal axes, featuring a stellar vault with robust bosses. Geometric tracery from 1862-3 defines the clerestory windows along the diagonal axes of the octagonal drum, with diaphragm arches to the triangular areas below. Perpendicular tracery of two and three lights, mostly with Y-shaped heads, is found below. An organ is located within a west gallery, and there is a narthex to the east of the entrance. Encaustic tile paving, pews (some along the walls), and an altar rail date to 1862-3. A carved pulpit was given by Philip Hardwick in 1864. The floor of the main body of the church is approximately two and a half feet above ground level, a peculiarity whose cause remains unclear, but which may indicate the presence of vaults. Chandeliers in a late 18th-century manner are suspended from the central boss and apex of the diaphragm arches.

A good collection of monuments and brasses from the 15th to 20th centuries are present, including a brass in the vestry commemorating William Markeby (died 1439) and his wife, a memorial to John and Mary Darker (1784, 1800) signed by J Binley, and an aedicular monument to Thomas Bodley in the north-east corner. Octagonal Anglican churches are rare; Dance adopted the plan partly as an expedient to fit the piers into the roughly square area enclosed by the medieval nave and aisle walls. He may have been influenced by the dozen non-conformist octagonal churches built between 1761 and 1776. He employed a similar plan in the rebuilding of Micheldever tower in Hampshire (1806-8), again retaining the medieval tower at the west end. Hardwick’s work largely followed Dance’s original designs, but he was obliged to replace the retained medieval walls with new construction.