IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Bartlemas Close, OXFORD, OX4 2AB

View of St Bartholomew's chapel from the lane leading to it

The chapel of the leper hospital of St Bartholomew, originally founded in 1126 by King Henry I. Like the similar Image in Cambridge, the hospital was placed over a mile outside the city to protect the townsfolk from infection. It passed through Adam de Brome, Vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, to his foundation of Oriel College in 1328 and the college rebuilt the chapel during the 14th century. During the Civil War, Parliamentary forces stabled horses in the chapel and melted down lead from the roof to make shot. When Oriel restored the building a more steeply-pitched roof of Cotswold slate was substituted, the original roofline still being visible in the masonry of the west gable. The chapel is of local rubble and measures approximately 35' by 16' (11m x 5m). The west gable has an opening for a bell, but this was removed by Cromwellian forces and never replaced. After long disuse the chapel was brought back into use in the early 20th century and since 1913 both Anglican and Orthodox congregations have worshipped there.

Blind shields and electrolier designed by Comper from the restoration of 1926.

The oak screen, with its unusually wide division by columns and pendants, is dated 1651 and bears the initials OC (probably for Oriel College rather than Oliver Cromwell, who was head of state at the time and whose parliamentary soldiers had stripped the chapel). The partly restored late 14th-century east window is of two cinquefoiled lights with tracery in a two-centred head. In the north wall is a similar original window but with different tracery and a label. The lower roof or ceiling http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3144738 is 15th-century, of three bays with chamfered tie-beams, curved braces, purlins and rafters and a moulded and embattled wallplate, and hides the 14th-century high-pitched roof above which is accessible only by ladder. The plaster-of-Paris infill with painted blind crests between the original timbers, the electroliers and the stone altar date from the restoration by Sir Ninian Comper in 1926. Information taken from the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, City of Oxford (1939) and a guide leaflet in the chapel.

A beautiful little chapel off the Cowley Road in Oxford that dates back to 1126

Very damaged benchmark on the south west corner of St Bartholomew's chapel Cowley Road Image

Reached by a narrow lane off the Cowley Road and leading to the Oriel College sports grounds, Bartlemas is the remains of the leper hospital founded by King Henry I in 1126 and built with materials left over from construction of the royal palace of Beaumont in Oxford city centre (now completely vanished and recalled only in the name of Beaumont Street). "It formed part of the main building of the hospital and was rebuilt by Oriel College in 1649, the earlier building having been destroyed in the siege [of Oxford in the Civil War]. It forms a long range originally divided into four tenements. On the south front [seen here] the two doorways have four-centred heads and the windows are of four lights; the north front has similar doorways and single-light windows. There are two three-light windows in the east wall. Inside the building [a private residence and not open to the public] the timber framing is exposed and there are some original fireplaces with four-centred heads. There are several original doorways with four-centred arches in square heads and initials in the spandrels [including] IS, P (for John Saunders, Provost 1644-53); and OC (for Oriel College)." Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, City of Oxford (1939) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriel_College,_Oxford#Bartlemas

Bartlemas is an astonishing survival: a former leper hospital (ahead), farmhouse (left) and mediaeval chapel (unseen, right) up a dead-end lane off Cowley Road just beyond the shops. Since I first found it twenty years ago, Oriel College, the landowner, has put up a notice "strictly forbidding" unauthorised entry, though I don't know how likely a challenge is; another notice at the chapel says it is open for an hour from noon on Wednesdays. It was advertised as open for the Open Doors weekend but closed early as another notice on the chapel door spelled out; I believe it is sometimes a venue for exhibitions during the Oxfordshire Artweeks event in May.

"St Bartholomew's Farm ... is of two storeys with cellars and attics; the walls are of rubble and the roofs are slate-covered. It was built in the 16th century and consists of three blocks of differing heights with later additions at each end. It has been extensively altered, but some of the internal timber construction is exposed and in the west wall is an original window. This and the Image seem to have formed part of the buildings of St Bartholomew's Hospital." Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, City of Oxford (1939)