American Ancestors | Waking a Sleeping Giant
Earlier today, I watched the webinar Waking a Sleeping Giant: The Rescue and Repair of the North Wing at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital presented by William Palin, the CEO of Bart’s Heritage Trust since 2019, as part of the Art & Architecture webinar series hosted by American Ancestors with Curt DiCamillo returning as host. Palin’s knowledgeable, calm talk demonstrated how the renovation of a large London hospital blended nine hundred years of history with the mission of a modern medical facility.
St. Bartholomew’s Hospital was founded in 1123 by Rahere, a courtier of King Henry I of England. Rahere was a priest and is now buried in an elaborate tomb in the church, St. Bartholomew the Great, which he built. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome in the 1120s, became ill, and was treated by monks at St. Bartholomew Church in Rome. He vowed to build a hospital in London. Later, he had a vision to found a priory. Many years later, after Henry VIII dissolved the Catholic Church in England, St. Barts the Church was reduced. However, St. Barts the Hospital was handed over to the City of London. A stained glass window in the Great Hall depicts Henry VIII handing the Royal Charter to the first superintendent. The original is still in the North Wing! The hospital building grew in the 16th, 17th, and early 18th century. In 1700, it resembled Oxford with courtyards, buildings, halls, and accommodations like a hotel. The gatehouse was built in 1701 by Edward Strong the Younger, who was from an architect family. His father, Edward Strong the Elder, worked with Sir Christopher Wren to build St. Paul’s Cathedral. The only public effigy of Henry VIII is above the door to the hospital. Above the effigy is a split pediment with carved figures representing lameness and disease
In the 1720s, James Gibbs was hired to redesign the hospital. Gibbs was Scottish grew up Catholic. He trained in Rome under Carlo Fontana and then introduced Roman Baroque architecture to England. His designs include St. Martin in the Fields Church, Radcliffe Camera at Oxford, the self-named Gibbs Building at King’s College of Cambridge, and nearby Senate House. His new design for the hospital was four classical style blocks, with three for patients and one for administration and ceremony. He built the hospital in stages, adding sections as they received funding.
Interior decoration was needed for the “great interior” of the North Wing. The first choice to decorate the Great Staircase was Giacomo / Jacopo Amigoni, but he was expensive. A “lesser known artist” living locally, William Hogarth, offered to do this free of charge since his mother and sister had accommodation on the hospital site. Hogarth would later become famous with his painting series A Rake’s Progress. He used the copyright of engravers laws to protect his work and made a lot of money. His father-in-law was Sir James Thornhill, a decorative painter who made over 50,000 square feet of painting at the Painted Hall in the Royal Naval College at Greenwich; accordingly Hogarth needed to impress him. He worked with George Lambert, a theater painter, and created two biblical scenes. Hogarth painted “The Miracle at Bethesda” off site while “The Good Samaritan” was painted in situ, with the entire project completed by 1737.
Other amazing features of the hospital are the Great Hall and the roof. The Great Hall features the names of about 3,000 benefactors to the hospital. The roof had been covered with copper after World War II, and the inadvisable roofing job caused water to get inside the building. Other items in need of repair were the heating, electrical, data cabling, stained glass windows, floors, 1720s Welsh slate roof, 18th century Thwaites and Reed clock, and stonework. The entire restoration project was slated to cost around 20 million pounds. Phase 1 wrapped in October 2025 with a cost of 10 million pounds, 5.7 million of which came from a Heritage Fund grant. Besides repairs the ancient property, the renovations were intended to reconnect with the community, including the 3,000 hospital employees. The project started during the COVID-19 lockdowns and included x-raying and UV scanning the Hogarth paintings to develop a treatment plan.
The public was invited to watch the restoration process with art and music courses taught in the space, and hospital staff visiting for a quiet break or bringing patients to the building. New benefactor names have been added to the wall, although the minimum is now 50,000 pounds instead of 50 pounds. Additionally, because the current monarch of England is considered the benefactor of the hospital, the King has visited to cut the 900th anniversary cake and admire the craftsmanship. Besides his majesty, the Hall attracted about 50,000 visitors in the first year, even though it is only open on Mondays and Tuesdays.
A few new additions have gone into St. Barts. A retired surgeon donated a chandelier in 1740 to be sure that Hogarth’s paintings were properly lit. For this renovation, the new addition was an 18th century style, handwoven Axminster carpet made by hand and solar shading on windows to preserve the artwork. As a very sweet ending to the presentation, Palin mentioned that his father, actor Michael Palin, had recently been treated for a heart condition at St. Barts. The young aide, Jason, proudly wheeled his elderly patient to see the Great Staircase. The older Palin did donate to the renovation, and his name is on the wall of benefactors. This fun story put a personal touch on an informative and beautifully presented webinar.