St. Bartholomew's Hospital

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Lore & Background

Founded in 1123 by Rahere, a favourite courtier of King Henry I who died in 1144 and is entombed nearby, Barts faced financial peril when the dissolution of the monasteries stripped its income. It was refounded by Henry VIII in December 1546 via an agreement granting it to the Corporation of London. The hospital became legally styled as the "House of the Poore in Farringdon," though the public never used this title. Thomas Vicary, sergeant-surgeon to King Henry and an early anatomy writer, served as its first superintendent. In the 17th century, William Harvey conducted research on the circulatory system here, while Percivall Pott and John Abernethy developed modern surgical principles in the 18th century. By 1839 to 1872, mortality reports indicated surgical trauma and infection were top killers, with tuberculosis as the leading nontraumatic cause. In 1890, nurses worked 12 to 14 hours daily with only a two-week annual holiday.

In Their Own Story

The Great Fire of London and the Blitz could not displace Barts from its site. Its main square, designed by James Gibbs in the 1730s, features four original blocks; three survived. The North Wing (1732) houses the Great Hall and William Hogarth's canvas paintings, followed by the South (1740), West (1752), and East Wings (1769). In 1859, a fountain designed by Philip Hardwick was placed in the square. The staircase leading to the Great Hall displays Hogarth's "The Pool of Bethesda" (1736) and "The Good Samaritan" (1737), painted without fee after he learned Italian artists were being commissioned. These canvases, restored with a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, opened for public viewing in early Autumn 2025. By 1872, the hospital held 676 beds, admitting 6,000 in-patients and 101,000 out-patients annually, supported by an income of £40,000 from rents and funded property.

Reader's Guide

Visitors enter through the Henry VIII entrance, which remains the main public gate topped with his statue. The Great Hall is a double-height Baroque room where walls display large painted plaques listing benefactor donations rather than hanging paintings. St Bartholomew-the-Less, the only survivor of five original chapels, stands as an Anglican parish church within the estate, featuring a 15th-century tower and stained glass from the Worshipful Company of Glaziers. In 1993, the Tomlinson Review threatened closure due to central London oversupply, but a campaign saved it; the accident and emergency department closed in 1995, relocating to the Royal London Hospital. A major redevelopment completed in early 2016 by HOK and Skanska at £500 million created new cardiac and cancer facilities, retaining the George V building's façade while establishing a main entrance on King Edward Street. In autumn 2025, Nuffield Health announced selling its lease back to Barts Health NHS Trust for conversion into a breast cancer centre opening in early 2026.

Did You Know?

• William Harvey conducted his research on the circulatory system at Barts in the 17th century.
• In 1890, nurses worked shifts of 12 to 14 hours with only two weeks of annual holiday.
• The hospital survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz while remaining on its original site.
• William Hogarth painted the canvases in the staircase without a fee to prove English painting equaled Italian art.
• By 1872, the hospital admitted 6,000 in-patients and 101,000 out-patients annually.