Who Watches the Watchmen?
Robert Treharne Jones first came up to Barts in 1970, and completed terms as the Editor of Barts Journal and Captain of the Boat Club during his student years. He is now Chairman of the Friends of Barts Heritage, and a Trustee of Barts Heritage itself.
As Barts approaches its 900th Anniversary in 2023 there’s a great deal happening in the oldest part of the hospital to help make its history more relevant than ever to the needs of the 21st century.
Chances are that you might never have set foot in the Great Hall, the jewel in the crown of the North Wing. Or perhaps you’ve attended a dinner or a meeting there without bothering to glance up at the magnificent mural paintings by William Hogarth on the staircase, or the wonderfully ornate ceiling by French artist Jean-Baptiste St Michel.
Don’t worry if these architectural splendours have passed you by, because they have been sadly neglected for many years while the hospital has rightly been focussed on patient care, as it has been since its foundation by Rahere in 1123.
But the efforts of a small group of enthusiasts have resulted in the formation of Barts Heritage, a dedicated charity to rescue, repair and renovate these historic buildings at the heart of the hospital, including the whole of the North Wing and the Henry VIII Gate. The aim of the restoration is to bring the buildings back to life as a place of discovery and delight for visitors and to provide facilities to promote the health and wellbeing of hospital staff. The pandemic has already allowed some areas of the building to be used for staff rest and recuperation, while the Great Hall is now home to ju-jitsu classes and other activities which architect James Gibbs can never have imagined when he designed the buildings three hundred years ago!
The story of the hospital’s foundation by Rahere is well-known. Once a jester at the court of Henry I, Rahere subsequently became a monk, and became unwell on a pilgrimage to Rome. He promised God that, should he recover, he would found a priory hospital on his return home. It was on this trek that St Bartholomew appeared in a vision to require that the hospital be dedicated to him.
Fast forward to the sixteenth century and Henry VIII’s foundation of the Church of England and subsequent dissolution of the monasteries, including the Priory of St Bartholomew. A petition to the King explained how Barts had suffered following the suppression, and Henry finally signed a Royal Charter that granted the City the control of the hospital.
The rebuilding of Barts in the eighteenth century saw the development of what are now the oldest parts of the hospital, at the heart of the restoration project. The Henry VIII Gate was built by Edward Strong Junior, the son of Christopher Wren’s chief mason, while architect James Gibbs, who had been appointed a hospital governor a few years previously, agreed to design the new hospital free of charge! The crowning glory came with the staircase decoration by the artist William Hogarth, who was born across the road in Bartholomew Close. His magnificent paintings depict the biblical stories of ‘The Good Samaritan’ and ‘Christ at the Pool of Bethesda’.
In charge of the project is CEO Will Palin, who arrived at Barts off the back of an award-winning £8m project to restore the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich, including the world-famous Painted Hall. The public were very much involved in the restoration, and had the opportunity to climb viewing galleries to see the work in progress, and similar plans are envisaged in the Great Hall.
The Friends of Barts Heritage have been working hard to help promote the restoration, including a series of monthly webinars in which experts such as historians, archaeologists, architects and conservationists have been talking about the importance of Barts and its historic buildings in the context of the City and the medical world.
If you would like your name added to the circulation list, at no obligation, then simply register your contact details at tinyurl.com/bartsfriends1123.
