The Roman martyrology holds that he evangelised in India and Armenia; other traditions claim he worked in Mesopotamia, Persia and Egypt. He is said to have been martyred by flaying and then beheading, on the orders of King Astyages.

Saint Bartholomew has been a popular choice for dedicating churches; 165 ancient churches were dedicated to him in England. Due to the manner of his death he has become the patron saint of tanners and all workers with leather, including trades such as shoemaking, bookbinding and dyeing.

Saint Bartholomew's Day is the 24th of August. On that day in 1572, King Charles IX of France declared that "Every Huguenot in France must perish"; up to 10,000 were killed in Paris, in what came to be known as the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Throughout France, thousands more were massacred in the next six weeks.

Until the late sixteenth century, our church was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. James suggests that it may have been re-dedicated to Saint Bartholomew because of sympathy for the French Protestants.

See: Alison Jones, 'The Wordsworth Dictionary of Saints', 1992.

Saint Bartholomew depicted in the north chancel window, 1908. He is holding the knife used to flay him (courtesy A. Harrington).