11 -- St. Bartholomew the Great, City of London (early-mid 1100s)

This next church is a walking distance from St. Giles-Cripplegate. 

The website of the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great boasts about being “London’s oldest surviving church”.  It was built beginning in 1123 and, according to the church website, has been "in continuous use since 1143”. 

This structure has a distinctive design. This is not “gothic” with many ornate spires and gargoyles such, and it’s not “Romanesque” with arches and boxy spires.  Rather, this one has square and solid lines to it, and a carefully laid out ornamentation including inlaid tiles in its siding.  From the mid-1100s?

It’s defined in at least one source as “Norman” architecture. Britannica.com has a good synopsis of what is meant by “Norman”: 

http://www.britannica.com/art/Norman-style

And, of course, when you research the Normans, you can see this is a pretty cool piece of history.

This tower shows that at different times differently shaped wings or annexes were connected.

You can go into the small garden-sitting area and it feels peaceful (despite the surrounding city noise).   An old photograph from the mid-1800s is on the wall of a nearby restaurant showing a bunch of properly dressed elderly men and women in the church ground (they looked like they were from Gone With The Wind).  The photo’s accompanying caption said they were following a long tradition of throwing coins on top of a grave.  

Here is what the front of it looks like at night: