St. Bartholomew the Great

St. Bartholomew the Great Review

This is one of London's oldest churches. Construction on the church and the hospital nearby was begun in 1123 by Henry I's favorite courtier, Rahere, who, surviving malaria, dedicated his life to serving the saint who had visited him in his fevered dreams. With the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII had most of the place torn down; the Romanesque choir loft is all that survives from the 12th century. In recent times, this ancient church has become a bit of a movie star, having appeared in The Other Boleyn Girl, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and Shakespeare in Love, to name but a few.