Thursday, 17 September, 2020
Every year I go for a check up at the Sleep Clinic at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in East Central London. This year my annual check up was by phone but, on that call, they told me that they wanted me to come in and have a face-to-face appointment with a therapist to get a new machine and mask. In fact, I was welcome to send a representative but that would mean not choosing a mask myself. I decided to go in person.
I have to say that I was a little nervous about going – it was the farthest I’d travelled in months, and it was to a hospital. However, I thought I could make the best of it by taking photographs in the area. My wish list was Smithfield Market, which is under development for the Museum of London, the hospital itself, and a quick visit to Three Uncles Cantonese barbecue take out, on my way to the train. Krish thought he might come and wanted to see Charterhouse Square. I wasn’t sure he’d be coming until I was almost ready to leave on Thursday late morning. Yes, he was!
There are several ways to reach Barts, which is what most people call St Bartholomew’s Hospital, but we opted to take the bus which usually goes all the way to the door or to Barbican tube station, which is at the east end of the large area that Barts and Smithfield covers. Our bus was going only as far as St Pauls so Barbican it was.
It would be tough to find another area of London with more and varied important history. Another bout of research reveals so many dates and occasions, my head swims, but I tried really hard to stick to my route and focus! To be honest, all the buildings, plaques, and monuments were going to be more than enough to keep the anxiety at a reasonable level.
Two estates are dominant at Barbican – Barbican estate itself and the 1950s Golden Lane Estate. Golden Lane Estate comes first. (This from my brother: ‘The first building to be completed was Bowater House, off Fann Street, named for a Lord Mayor of London whose descendants we are related to.’) The most obvious building on the estate is Crescent House, which has a Tudor look so is very distinctive. The estate was built to house those who were bombed out during WWII. Crescent House was the last to be built. By then the huge Barbican scheme was already underway.
The Barbican estate deserves a blog of its own but I have no idea when that day will come. It’s a very complex site over a very large area. Barbican covers the area that was once the main Roman Fort of London (120 AD) – barbican , from Barbecana, which means a fortified outpost or gateway. It has 2,000 flats, maisonettes, and houses on what was a bombsite after WWII. While Golden Lane estate is a City-owned council estate, Barbican is an upmarket development, designed and built for affluent City professionals and their families, charging market value rents.
If you go to Barbican estate, you’d be impressed at its size (15ha) and variety of use. It contains the Barbican Centre (an arts, drama and business venue), the Barbican public library, the City of London School for Girls, the Museum of London, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There are gardens, cafes, even arenas in there. What you’d also notice is the walkways, called ‘highwalks’ one to three stories above ground level. This separates the estate from the car parks and roads below. You can get lost walking about the highwalks – very entertaining. I wasn’t even going to try going in – it demands a lot of time!
Leaving the Barbican towers behind, cross the road and you’ll find Long Lane, which leads into the medieval area of Bartholomews. I love wandering around here, although today not everything is open. I could take a hundred photos here but today it’s just a handful.
And it’s on to Smithfield Market.
I love Smithfield Market. It’s a majestic building with what today would be called ‘unicorn’ ironwork. It’s been a meat market for over 150 years (1868) but this site has been used for about 1,000 years. It was originally called Smooth Field, a large grassy area where fairs, jousts and tournaments were held. By the late Middle Ages the area had become the most famous livestock market in the country. There are still streets that tell you that market was here – Cow Cross Street and Cock Lane.
In its shadow hangings took place, including that of Wat Tyler and of William (Braveheart) Wallace.
Like many central markets, after serving as the meat wholesaler for all of London, Smithfield is coming to its end as a London venue, and will be moving to Dagenham in Essex. In its main market hall will sit the relocated Museum of London. Despite my sadness at the meat market leaving, I’m very intrigued to see how the museum will use this space.
Krish wanted to revisit Charterhouse Square, but have to admit that I don’t recall ever going there. This is another spot that was very photogenic, so again I’m going to have to choose a handful of photos to show you.
It’s like entering a gated community, going into the square. In fact, there are gates at either end.
Around the two-acre square are many mismatched houses, mostly Tudor and Stuart architecture restored after the London Blitz. There are very few alike. The Charterhouse itself started as a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 and dissolved in 1537. The site was largely rebuilt after 1545 as a large courtyard house. This house is like many 16th century mansions that could once be seen all over London. In 1611 , the property was bought by Thomas Sutton (the same Sutton who has Sutton House in Homerton) “the wealthiest commoner in England,” and he established a school for the young and an almshouse for the old. It is still a home for over 60s, where anyone can apply to live.
It’s like a little town within a city. Then we moved out of the square and walked around behind Clerkenwell Road a bit. It reminded me a lot of the back streets of Hoxton.
It was time to head over to Barts. I’ve been coming here so long, I feel I’ve seen just about everything but the more I read the more things I know I haven’t seen yet. I feel like I’m going into an ancient walled city when I go into Barts. There’s a tunnel-like entry, like in a palace or castle, leading to a large courtyard. There are buildings on each side of the square, each one is a different area of the hospital.
Barts was founded, like the church, in 1123. It’s officially the oldest hospital in the country. The hospital buildings aren’t that old, of course. The oldest current building was constructed in 1732. The square’s fountain arrived in 1859. There are gazebos around the square and the whole effect is very tranquil.
The entrance to the King George V building (KGV) from the square was closed, as were two others but I eventually found my way to the entrance. Inside I had to sanitise my hands and get a mask. They then asked me a bunch of questions and took my temperature. All good. Funnily, I felt relieved. I’d been walking for a while and thought I might be warm, but no. They sent me straight up to the clinic. It was a good appointment, where I got a new machine, hose, and mask, as well as a lot of paper. I left feeling I’d accomplished a lot, and pretty relieved to be heading home.
On Giltspur Street opposite Smithfield Market is a lovely water trough that’s being used as a planter. Then along the road at Giltspur Street and Cock Lane stands The Golden Boy of Pye Corner. This small late-17th-century gold coated wooden boy marks the spot where the Great Fire was stopped. This statue is the only reason the whole building has a Grade II listing.
I made a quick stop at The Three Uncles for some lo mein with wonton and char siu pork, and some lamb dumplings, which we shared for dinner. Our train was waiting for us and was far more crowded than I’d hoped for at 3:30pm. Nothing to do but hang in there, and be happy to be on the final stretch.
