In the 1994 film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, St. Bartholomew the Great was the scene of the fourth wedding…the wedding that wasn’t to be. In this scene, Hugh Grant’s character, Charles, and his closest friends gather in the church courtyard to fondly congratulate Charles on his upcoming nuptials, and his friend, Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas), proposes an uplifting toast to “Charles and Duck Face”. Shortly after the toast, however, it becomes the wedding that was not meant to be as Charles claims his true love for another woman (Andie McDowell), cancels the wedding, and gets punched in the face by the bride. The church has also appeared in other award-winning films including Shakespeare in Love, The End of the Affair, and The Other Boleyn Girl. Saint Bartholomew the Great is one of the oldest churches in London, and has been a place of worship since at least 1143. The church was built when Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, was King of England. It was founded as an Augustinian Priory in 1123 and is currently an active Anglican Church. The church has survived the Great Fire of 1666, the bombs dropped in Zeppelin raids during World War I and during the Blitz in World War II. The church is located near Smithfield Market where meat has been sold for over eight hundred years. Various livery companies, such as the Worshipful Company of Butchers, the Worshipful Company of Farmers, and the recently established Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, all hold their annual services at St. Bartholomew the Great.
- St. Bartholomew the Great
- 6 Kinghorn Street, London EC1A 7HW
- www.greatstbarts.com
- Underground: Farringdon