#The Brick Tower#, built in 1628, is said to have been altered to some extent in subsequent repairs, which have not improved its appearance. So at least say the admirers of King Charles I, who argue that nothing quite so hideous could have been erected in his reign. It is a plain square structure, seventy-five feet in height, in four stages, gradually diminishing in area upwards, the lower part supported by buttresses, and the summit crowned by battlements, with a small bell-turret and vane. More interesting than the tower itself--which is, in fact, an incongruous addition to the church--are the #Bells# which it contains, a precious inheritance from the Augustinian Canons, and in some respects the most remarkable in London. The foundry stamp shows them to have been cast by Thomas Bullisdon, who died about 1510. They are the smaller five of a ring of twelve, six of which were sold at the Dissolution to the Church of St. Sepulchre, Holborn, where they have since been re-cast, and one has disappeared from history.
The measurements and inscriptions are as follows:
1. #SANCTE BARTHOLEMEO: ORA PRO NOBIS.# Diameter 22 in. 2. #SANCTA KATERINA: ORA PRO NOBIS.# Diameter 24 in. 3. #SANCTA ANNA: ORA PRO NOBIS.# Diameter 26¾ in. 4. #SANCTE JOHANNES BAPTISTE: ORA PRO NOBIS.# Diameter 29¼ in. 5. #SANCTE PETRE: ORA PRO NOBIS.# Diameter 31 in.
The clock-bell, in the cage on the top, is inscribed, "<sc>T. Mears of London Fecit</sc> 1814." Diameter about 25 inches.
The churchyard is overlooked on its northern side by the back windows of some rickety old wooden houses, suggestive of an easy conflagration, and dangerously near the church. They date from the time of Queen Elizabeth, and stand on a piece of the ground formerly devoted to Bartholomew Fair, the memory of which is perpetuated in the adjoining street (Cloth Fair), where the humble shops in front of the same houses are said to be a survival of the ancient booths. They run close up to the #North Porch#, which projects into the street from the transept. It was erected in 1893, at the same time that the transept was restored. The porch is similar in material and character to that on the west, with some differences in detail, the chief of which are that the figure over the door represents St. Bartholomew, with only one window on each side of it--in this case square-headed, with a label-moulding--and the chequered diaper covers the whole wall-surface of the upper storey. The Saint is raising his right hand in the act of blessing, and holds in the left a knife, which has become his emblem, as the instrument of his passion. A scroll entwined about the effigy bears the appropriate words (in English) from Rahere's vision: _Almighty God this spiritual house shall inhabit and hallow it._ The upper chamber here is reserved for the mission-lady working in the district.