Courtesy of Wikipedia:User:DisillusionedBitterAndKnackered – from english WP, original photo by User:Nevilley replaced by new version from DBaK, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1657384
One of my favourite pastimes when driving through London, is spotting obscure statues of well-known figures and they don’t come any more famous than Henry VIII. Considering he’s probably our best-known King you’d think he’d have a sizeable statue to match his outsized ego. Not so. It’s as hidden away as they come and I bet most London cabbies would be hard pressed to find it.
Bizarrely, you’d have to go to one of the very places which Henry did his best to get rid of.
During the reformation in the 16th century, Henry was hell bent on eradicating all traces of Catholicism which meant, amongst other things, closing all the monasteries. The official line was that the religious order led over-privileged lives, while the real reason was that Henry wanted to get his hands on their land and considerable wealth.
Unfortunately, a downside of the ‘Dissolution of the Monasteries’ was that many priories did valuable work in supporting their local populations, and now were unable to do so.
Take Barts for instance. The hospital was established in the 12th century (making it incidentally, the oldest hospital in Europe) and worked with the nearby Priory of St Bartholomew. When the priory was forced to close the hospital was in danger of being shut as well. A petition was sent to Henry to save the hospital. It was argued that “the miserable people lyeing in the streete, offending every clene person passing by the way with theyre fylthye and nastye savors.”
Somewhat surprisingly the King agreed, and granted the hospital to the City of London so it could continue to serve the poor and needy.
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=587678
Later, in the early 1700’s when it was being rebuilt, the hospital authorities as a gesture of belated thanks, installed a statue of Henry over the northern gatehouse. Although Henry probably would have been a tad disappointed with the modest size of the statue, I’m sure he would appreciated the gesture and had been pleased with the portrayal of his considerable physique.