St. Bartholomew
collapse of Catholicism gave way to corrupt men taking advantage of a temporarily dissolute faith. However, Rich did not only embody the exploitation that was rife in the upper echelons of English society at the time, but he also proved to be a master of survival, adapting his beliefs and ideologies to align with those of powerful people around him. During the height of the reformation, he served Henry VIII and Cromwell zealously, then abandoned Cromwell when he fell, and went on to hold powerful positions under Edward VI and Mary I, shifting allegiance between Protestant and Catholic regimes with calculated ease. Together, Eyton and Rich provide a revealing glimpse into the reformation era, one exposing the early, cautious stirrings of reformist thought within the Church, the other embodying the ruthless opportunism through which political power and personal survival came to define religion in Tudor England. After decades of uncertainty following the reformation, St Barts entered a prolonged period of challenge, reflecting the wider picture of English religious life at the time. Although the parish briefly enjoyed a moment of renewal with £698 being spent on major repairs in 1637, overall, this period was troubling. 4 The rector from 1605 to 1644, Thomas Westfield, was a strong royalist in an increasingly puritanical city. His exile in 1642 precipitated a raid on the church by local puritans, providing a vivid window into the ideological fractures and hostilities that defined early Stuart England, where royal authority was challenged. This unfortunate series of events continued with the arrival of the Great Plague in 1665 which saw 244 deaths in the parish, leaving almost a quarter of the parish’s population dead, offering a more obvious window into the state of London during this period. Due to this great magnitude of deaths St Barts slowly fell into disrepair. With fewer donations to maintain the church over the next twenty years, the church would begin to look unrecognizable from the grand monastery it once was and in 1687 it was in desperate need of repairs. This was symptomatic of most other parish churches across the country. Following the Commonwealth years and plague, many suffered from neglect, reduced resources and dwindling congregations. Although St Barts did receive the repairs it needed in 1687 (finished in 1704), the church never returned to its once great stature. This great milestone in the social history of St Barts is aligned with a major shift in the religious state of England; the seemingly endless wave of religious and political upheaval pushed England, and London in particular, to place a greater importance on secular life, leading to much of the original site of St Barts being repurposed. A parish school was first established above the north choir aisle, with the gallery of three of the triforium bays becoming the schoolhouse; these modifications would become extensive with the Lady Chapel, prior’s lodging and south triforium gallery all being converted into a number of residences by 1784, and by 1809 the sacristy was developed into a carpenter’s shop and the east cloister was put to use as a stable. Overall, these renovations and transformations offer a final ‘window’ into how conflict, disease and changing priorities transformed a once deeply Catholic country into a nation shifting towards a secular society. Across its long history, St Bartholomew the Great has mirrored the fortunes of the English church, holding a position of great wealth and importance in the medieval period, torn apart in the reformation, and then reshaped to fit new social and secular needs. Each stage in the life of the church offers a distinct perspective on the priorities, tensions, and resilience of English society. In this sense, St Barts
4 Calendar of State Papers 1628/9, 406, 29.
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