England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Bartholomew by the Exchange

The Parish

The parish of St Bartholomew by the Exchange lay in the eastern portion of the city of London and as its suffix explains it sat next to the main Stock Exchange for the city, and the site of today's Bank of England. The parish occupied a thin strip running northwards from the site of the church on Threadneedle Street to the southern edge of Drapers' Gardens.  St Bartholomew was one of the smaller parishes in the ancient city, a city of small parishes, it covered merely 2 city blocks each north of Threadneedle Street. At the time of this transcript the area was still moderately inhabited with residents but today it is in the heart of the city's commercial area with few night-time inhabitants, the area being dominated by office blocks and the services that meet their needs. The parish suffered markedly from the ravages of the Great Fire of London its warren of tiny courtyards and properties a forgotten memory, the original medieval church was also destroyed. This area of the city has largely sub-surface drainage and with the Thames only a few hundred metres south most water readily makes its way there. St Bartholomew sat at just 12 metres above the sea with land only gently rising a further 5 metres or so within a mile or two. Despite occupying a relative tiny area compared to rural parishes nevertheless at the time of this transcript almost 350 parishioners would have crammed into its tiny acreage.

The Church

The neat sign which marks the former site of the church explains the briefest of histories of this church. The first references to a church on this site are in documents of c1225 and in those days the "Exchange" did not exist the church being known then as St Bartholomew the Less or Little St Bartholomew, a confusing name given that a another city church bears that name. Sadly all trace of the medieval church was lost in the Great Fire of London of 1666 when all was destroyed. The church was re-created by the famous architect Sir Christopher Wren in his typical style. It was another fire in 1838 that, however, spelt the demise of St Bartholomew, the Royal Exchange suffered a second fire, it too had been destroyed and rebuilt in the earlier conflagration, and the Corporation of London petitioned Parliament given the opportunity to widen Threadneadle Street. Both St Bartholomew and St Benet Fink were demolished in 1841 to widen that road and St Bartholomew was incorporated into the parish of St Margaret Lothbury to its west. Today the actual site sits beneath tarmac with a portion occupied by the premises of a bank, there is only the sign to mark its passing.