The Gatehouse of St Bartholomew's Hospital
The Gatehouse of St Bart's was Peter's office before he came to NZ. It is the entrance to the Hospital and Church, just off Smithfield Square. The hospital is the oldest hospital in London (though this is often disputed by St Thomas' whose records proving such a claim were destroyed in the fire). And it is the oldest hospital in Britain which still occupies the original site it was built on.
The gate house was built in 1702, although the hospital was founded in 1123 by the monk Rahere. Rahere was a monk who lived at the nearby priory of St Bartholomews (now the remaining church is known as St Bartholomew's the Great). He is said to have had a vision, of St Bartholomew when he fell ill on a pilgrimage in Rome. He was instructed to build a hospital. When he had recovered he returned to Smithfield and did so.
You can see the gatehouse - the main entrance to the hospital - in the etching above.
Most of the current hospital is Georgian, being built by James Gibbs in the 1730s, along with the Great Hall, with it's Hogarth paintings up the stair well...
Above: Gibbs'Main Block and courtyard.
Below: The Hogarth Paintings of Christ at the Pool of Bethesda.
leading up the staircase...
to the Great Hall...
The large square outside the hospital was the site of the meat market (still there today providing most of London's meat). It was one of the social centres of medieval London life, and was also the site of the execution of William Wallace.
The view from the top...
