Lady Chapel Great St Bart's

Images of Britain: The Lady Chapel, Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great, London

The Lady Chapel - legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to a monk here in the 12th century. — The Lady Chapel - legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to a monk here in the 12th century

The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great is home to a Lady Chapel that received a visitation from the Virgin Mary in the 12th century and later was the workplace of Benjamin Franklin.

Located in the Smithfield district of London, Great St Bart's is the capital's oldest surviving parish church. It was founded by in 1123 by Rahere, a cleric from nearby St Paul's Cathedral and a favourite of King Henry I.

Lady chapels are chapels dedicated to Our Lady, Mary, the mother of Jesus. There are lady chapels in the cathedrals of Bury St Edmunds, Chester, Gloucester, Hereford, Manchester, Rochester, Liverpool, Wells and Ely as well as Westminster Abbey. There are also lady chapels in the parish church at Ottery St Mary, All Saints' Church in West Dulwich and St Jude's in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to the monk Hubert in the late 12th century. She supposedly admonished him and his fellow monks for the quality and fervor of their prayers in her name. Fast forward to 1724, and a young Benjamin Franklin (later one of the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence), recently arrived in London, found work in a printer's shop in what was previously the chapel as a typesetter.

Information boards outside the chapel add more details on the two stories.

It was not until 1897 that the chapel was eventually restored for worship.